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How the Live Webcam Got Started Living in Southern California, we are blessed to be joined by numerous species of birds and several years ago we noticed a hummingbird setting up her nest in our yard. What amazed us is we thought it would be a one-time event, but she kept coming back year after year. After several years, we thought it would be fun to get a closer look and set up our first webcam in 2007. As the number of viewers grew, in March 2009 we moved the broadcast to Ustream.tv, and then the number of viewers exploded. In less than a year, we had over 2 million views, and had climbed to the most popular birding site on the web (Fat Birder's Top 1000 Birding Website). Phoebe has a dedicated community of followers from all around the world, and we love hearing that school children are learning about hummingbirds with the help of our webcam and that Phoebe has inspired visual artists, musicians, poets, and more. Who is Phoebe? Phoebe is a non-migratory Channel Islands Allen's Hummingbird (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen's_Hummingbird). She builds her nests in a rose bush, and the nest is about the size of a golf ball, with eggs being about the size of a tic-tac candy (Egg Pics). The season for nesting is October through May/early June, and Phoebe will lay four to five clutches per season. One or two eggs are laid per clutch, they hatch after 17 days, and the chicks typically fly three to four weeks later. Phoebe will sometimes build a new nest, but frequently repairs old nests. For more information, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (below). Nest Log Laid: 2?-Oct-2007.  Laid: 08-Jan-2008. Laid: 24-Feb-2008. Laid: 5 & 7-Apr-2008. Laid: 5 & 7-May-2008. End of 2007-08 Season. Laid: 29 & 31-Oct-2008. Laid: 29-Dec & 01-Jan. Laid: 16 & 19-Feb-2009. Laid: 12 & 14-Apr-2009. Laid: 23 & 25-Apr-2009.     End of 2008-09 Season. Laid: 24 & 27-Oct-2009. Laid: 2 & 4-Jan-2010. Laid: 25 & 27-Feb-2010. Laid: 29 & 31-Mar-2010 Laid: 23 & 25-Apr-2010 Hatched:10-Nov-2007. Hatched: 25-Jan-2008. Hatched: 12-Mar-2008. Both nonviable. One Hatched: 21-May-2008. Hatched: 15 & 16-Nov-2008. One Hatched: 16-Jan-2009. Hatched: 6 & 7-Mar-2009. Eggs were stolen by another bird April 14.     One Hatched: 10-May-2009. Hatched: 10 & 12-Nov-2009. Hatched: 19-Jan-2010. Both nonviable. Eggs were stolen by another bird March 31. Hatched: 9 & 10-May-2010. Fledged: 10-Dec-2007 Fledged: 19 & 20-Feb-2008 Fledged: 08-Apr-2008 Fledged: 14-Jun-2008 Fledged: 10-Dec-2008 Fledged: 15-Feb-2009  Marcel Fledged: 29 & 31-Mar-2009  Roza & Goober Taken to rehabilitation specialist; Jewel released 23-Jul-2009 Fledged: 4-Dec-2009 Jade & Julep  Both Storm & Sassy died. Lizard Video Fledged: 02-June-2010  Hoku (Hope taken by a crow) Hummingbird Feeder Care Tips for lost Hummingbirds Frequently Asked Questions Q. Where is the nest located? A. In our host's front courtyard in Orange County, CA, in a rose bush. Q. Who owns this camera?  A. Our host's Ustream username is Pungh0Li0. Q. What kind of camera is being used? A. LogiTechQuickCam Pro9000. For more info, click on "The Camera" above. Q. What kind of bird is this? A. Phoebe is a Channel Island Allen's Hummingbird subspecies S.s. sedentarius. This is a non-migratory subspecies of Allen's Hummingbird indigenous to The Channel Islands off Southern California.  Q. Do most hummingbirds migrate? A. Yes, most do, but there are other resident species as well Q. Are there hummingbirds in all parts of the world? A. No, hummingbirds occur only in the Americas and the surrounding Islands  Q. I thought only males had the red throat. A. In this species females have a speckled gorget.Please see http://www.kiwifoto.com/galleries/birds/allens_hummingbird/ to view photos of male and female Allen's Hummingbirds, where there is a text including the Channel Islands Allen's below the pictures Q. What time is it at the nest? A. This nest is in the Pacific Time Zone of the United States.(GMT -8 hours) Q. How many clutches does she have per year? A. She usually has 4-5 per breeding season, which runs between October and May/June each year Q. How long until the eggs hatch? A. The eggs normally hatch approximately 16-18 days from date laid. Q. How many eggs are laid? A. Normally 2 eggs are laid (approximately the size of tic-tacs). Q. What does the mother bird feed the chicks? A. She feeds them nectar (for energy) and insects (for protein) by regurgitation (a sort of buggy stew), which is stored in their crops (food storage sacs, which appear like lumps on the sides of their necks).Hummingbirds require a large percentage of fruit flies, gnats, small spiders and other soft-bodied insects for protein as well as nectar for energy. Q. How often are they fed? A. When small, they are fed about every 15-30 minutes.The length of time increases with development. Q. How long until the babies fledge (fly)?  A. The babies normally fledge approximately 21-28 days from hatch date. Q. What gender are the chicks?(male or female?) A. Chicks get their gender feathers after the first-year molt.Until then, they appear as juveniles, no gender feathers apparent, looking more like adult females with drabber feather colors.There is no way to know their gender before adult plumage occurs.  Q. Why do Phoebe's feathers change colors?  A. See http://hummingbirdworld.com/h/iridescent.htm to learn why hummingbirds' feathers are iridescent Q. What are those black specks on the nest?  A. Hummingbird waste (aka. Poop); the young instinctively raise their rear ends to defecate outside the nest, keeping the interior clean and waste free Q. What is the nest made of? A. Various plant material such as moss, lichens, leaves, plant fluff and other natural materials and spiderwebbing for elasticity and strength Q. Does she always use the same nest? A. Phoebe has 4 nests in this rose bush.She alternates among them, sometimes remodeling one and sometimes using materials from the others to build a new nest. Q. Does the dad help raise the chicks? A. No, the male hummingbird's part in the raising of young is breeding and fertilization only.They do not help with the building of the nest or the raising of the chicks once that is accomplished. Q. How many babies has Phoebe had? A. Please see "Nest Log" above. Q. How old is Phoebe?  A. Phoebe is an unbanded hummingbird, so there is no scientific way to know just how old she is. But if she is indeed the same bird he has observed here, it is believed by our host that she is approximately 7 years old. Q. How long do hummingbirds live?  A. The oldest banded hummingbird lived to be 12 years old.Many die in their first year, but the average age is about 4-7 years.Ages range with different species. *Other sites of interest for further hummingbird information can be found: http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com http://phoebeallens.com/feedercare.html