Harriette the Hummingbird Architect

• Harriette, a master architect, designed her home in our Brazilian pepper tree. Created with a variety of leaves, plant bits, and dryer fluff selected from the neighborhood, it floats above our driveway .  

  Wrapping materials with spiderwebs keeps them bound and attached to the branch.  

  To blend it in with the pepper tree, Harriette added materials similar to the location's color. 

  Harriette engineered her nest by pressing materials into shape with her body and chin. Sitting inside the nest, she created curves and used her feet to mold the walls. She stomped to make the nest bottom sturdy then thickened the wind side to protect baby hummingbirds from weather. Thinner sides of the nest keep the babies cool during warmer days by allowing air to flow through the nest. 

• Two white eggs have arrived. Now we watch with cameras poised and wait for two baby hummingbirds to fledge.