In the Life and Times
Courtship
To attract each other they will spread their tail feathers out like a fan, toss their heads from side to side, while making shrill sounds. Only the male will fly back and forth in a shallow arc to display himself for the chosen female.
Nesting and Eggs
After mating, the female attends to building the nest and caring for the youth alone, some reports of males have been seen sitting on a nest, but this is still rare.
Females will build a nest from plant down and spider webs and cover with lichen, about 5 to20 foot above ground, and sometimes on a branch over or very near water. Nest are so wee, size is smaller than half of a walnut shell.
She will then lay 2 white eggs, the size of less than half an inch, like a pinky nail. Incubation takes 13 to 22 days, depending on species. Ruby Throated about 15 to 20 days. One egg will hatch before the other one, as one egg is laid, and the second egg is laid one to two days later.
They can have 2 broods per season, sometimes 3 broods has been reported.
Caring for the Young
The mother will land on the edge of her nest and regurgitate a mixture of half digested insects and nectar to feed her young. The mother's throat swells and pumps through her beak that she has placed down their throats.
As the youth grow, from a weak naked creature, to downy to feathers, it will start to practice flying. This is done by fastening their feet securely to the rim of the tiny nest to prevent themselves being swept upwards by their whirring wings, before they are ready to leave the nest.
Youth will leave their nest 19 to 29 days after hatching, depending on the species. Ruby Throated about 20 to 22 days.
When the young leave the nest, mother will attend to them, feeding them and showing them to flowers, insects and sometimes feeders for a few days to a couple of weeks and then they are on their own.
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