Hummingbird Defending Eggs From Lizard - March 16, 2010

[DinoKillaful]

Lizard hers humming.....

Lizard: OH CRAP SHE'S BACK!!!

[crawdadjoe]

How high up off the ground was it? Wow...would never guess alligator lizards would cimb up and eat hummer eggs. Where was this shot?

[Pungh0li0]

@crawdadjoe It is in a rose bush in Southern California... about 6 or 7 feet off the ground. I've added the link in the info below the video if you want to watch her. Or google Phoebe Allens.

[Ramonerdna]

Lol I saw a hummingbird in my yard defend its nest from lizards, only thing is the lizards weren't really that close to her nest (some of them weren't even on the same tree), and they were much smaller...maybe my hummingbird is just a bully?

[MusicLuver434]

I caught that kind of lizard, but couldn't keep it :'(

[Elousiechua]

there are humming birds in singapore :D i saw them :D

[DataDame]

My guess on this one has always been that the egg she destroyed had already become non-viable, and was beginning to attract preditors/carrion feeders (like the lizard?), so getting rid of it was the natural thing to do.

[rajivgo]

one question i got a hummingbird nest here in singapore outside my hdb flat plant and the female hummingbird laid two eggs about two weeks ago..about a day ago i realised that there is just one egg there and the female hummingbird has not come back at her nest ard(6pm evening) daily anymore..has she abandoned the nest or has she done exactly the same thing in this video to save the other egg(place it somewhere safer or smth.. any idea??thanks if there is any response from yah guys..

[Pungh0li0]

@rajivgo Sorry, there aren't hummingbirds in Singapore. Could it be a Sunbird(Nectariniidae)? If there is an egg missing and she hasn't returned then it is probably abandoned.

[oh2love4love]

hi, wondering what she did with the egg i saw her snatch up at the end? :)

thanks for posting this and for your live webcam.. very cool indeed!

[oh2love4love]

@oh2love4love i just read someone below saying she got rid of the egg because it wasn't viable.. i guess that is my answer :)

[Pungh0li0]

@oh2love4love She flipped it out of the nest with her beak.

[E90PAT]

@Pungh0li0 why?!

[thesilverfish]

I commented on this vid on some other site and forgot about it. Paused at 3:51 you can clearly see her beak is not open (holding the egg) and has pieced the shell most likely killing the embryo. This behavior is so interesting. Either getting rid of the egg for some reason or possible the egg is not ruined?

[glub75]

aww this is so adorable! we just got a hummingbird starting to make a nest in our backyard and we are very excited too see the hummingbirds daily :)

[odlaw18]

Thanks so much for a great video. I love to film hummingbirds. How did you find the nest?

[jojococoa]

why were the eggs non-viable? how does the mother know?

[DMADave]

Very interesting! I'm assuming this was a time lapse, due to the jerkiness. What was the frame rate?

[Pungh0li0]

@DMADave Not a timelapse. Have to run low framerate at HiRes. 5 fps.

[prodemdss]

wait, I just read live here that the egg that she tossed was a non-viable egg. Truth???

[prodemdss]

sorry I just learned about Phoebe's, and, all of our loss, due to those crows; however, I know sometimes a mom does her very best and prevails, and this video with the lizard proves that! Thank you, and I really miss seeing you all! <3

[prodemdss]

sorry I just learned about Phoebe's, and, all of our loss, due to those crows; however, I know sometimes a mom does her very best and prevails, and this video with the lizard proves that! Thank you, and I really miss seeing you all! <3

[J9cat]

I was just amazed to see a hummingbird pick up an egg in her bill!

[pinkonfire354]

so wut ever happend to the other egg?

[members12]

there was about 1 second of action in a 4 minute video. bravo!

[NiteBlogger]

You go Phoebe!

[JettaJ1]

wow sneaky lizzard

[Nonniemayrox]

great vid , thanks.

[pbsjones]

The egg was not viable. The tiny hole appeared in it two or three days before this video. If the chick was going to hatch, it would have happened by now. Sad for us, natural for the rest of the animal kingdom.

[DementedDiva]

Phoebe is totally cool. Thank you Pungh.

[fizzyfizzz]

actually it was a viable egg

[sam1977]

Thank you for posting this!! Phoebe is remarkable! So sad about the egg.

[mamphy2002]

some may see it as sad, and it is , but is also AMAZING , You go Phoebe, sooo educational

[SeaMowse]

Way to go, Phoebe!