The most wonderful thing about birding is attitude. Everyone is so friendly and eager to share their experiences, which in turn helps me become a better birder. Take hummingbirds, for example. I would love to watch a hummingbird raise her young outside my window, to feel the first excitement when I see her building her nest, calling my birder friends on sighting the first egg, all the way to the final, breathless moments of the young’s first flight.
It’s not likely to happen though, because I just don’t have the right habitat. Am I sad? Certainly not! More and more birders are jumping on the web cam bandwagon, giving me a seat of honor to watch the hummingbirds in their backyard. Plus, there’s a social advantage to viewing a live webcam: other birders are there to chat with and share the joy!
So to celebrate our upcoming annual June/July hummingbird issue, I want to share two fantastic hummingbird web cam feeds that I’ll have my eyes glued to this season.
Phoebe is a Channel Island Allen (S.s. sedentarius) hummingbird in Orange County, California. She has been laying 4 to 5 clutches each year for several years. Ustream user PunghOliO has been broadcasting her nest since 2007.
This hummingbird, Emma, lives in Laguna, California, (just 12 miles down the road from Phoebe) and is also the subject of a book by her cinematographer, Diane Davani. Not only is this a wonderful webcam, but the companion website, Our Hummingbird Nest, provides a rich history of past broods, the story behind the webcam and a personal account of living with hummingbirds.
If you have a favorite bird cam, please share with us in the comments below!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I am honored (and thrilled!) to be mentioned here! My love for these sweet birds comes from my soul and the amazing room of friends we’ve created in our live cam chat room is like no other. Our room motto is: “Enter as strangers, leave as friends.”
In 2010, I showed up into this world of “streaming” and “birds” and people I didn’t know. I had no idea what to expect. I mean, if I’m 100% honest, I had a preconceived idea about “bird people” (lol) that they all wore hiking boots, carried binoculars and ate trail mix. Other than that, I wasn’t sure. I was greeted with some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. Salt of the earth. Now I call us the “Hummingbird Sisterhood”. (We let a few guys in too – LOL)
I thank each and every one of you. You’ve given me knowledge, support, encouragement, laughter (tons!), and most importantly… friendship. True friendship… even across the miles — some of you on the other side of the world. You’ve become part of my daily life. I never had any idea I could become so attached to a group of hiking boot/binocular-wearin’ trail mix-eatin’ bird people! LOL. When I think about the greater good that’s come from these hummingbirds, it makes me love them even more. May we all see the skies FILLED with these wonderful miracle flying jewels – and may they continue to bring blessings to all of us!! xo-Diane
This eagle nest is 80 ft up in a cottonwood tree in Decorah, Iowa. I have met people from all over the world who have watched the eagle Mom and Dad raise their families since 2007 …it is amazing!
Hii,
This is a good webcam directory where you can find birds webcams
http://webcamanimal.com/keyword-webcam-bird.html
Cheers
Jim
I have three ruby throat humingbirds vist my hummingbird feeder daily and they each flu off in a different direvtion. But I have yet to see a hummingbid nest. I have woods to the side of my house, 32 hardwood trees in my backyard and three oaks trees in my front yard, but I yet to find their nests.
Here’s my favorite hummingbird webcam. http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdsupclose
I have been running it for two years and watched over 20 different nests from egg to flight. Some in my yard, many in the forest.
It’s one of the most rewarding things I could ever do.
This is a Bald Eagle nest cam in Decorah, Iowa and they have three eaglets. The first egg was laid on 2/17; 2nd 2/20; third 2/24. First egg hatched 3/27; 2nd 3/28; third 3/31. Watching how these these dedicated parents tend to the young eaglets has been an AWESOME experience. The way they work so well together and share in the responsibilities of parenting is really heart-warming. I have been watching these eaglets since they were bobble-headed little babies and see them grow by leaps and bounds every day; so I’m probably going to experience empty-nest syndrome when they leave the nest. This has been a wonderful experience that I will never forget and now I have a new hobby (nest-watching)!
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
Wonderful work! That is the kind of info that should be shared around the internet.
Disgrace on Google for no longer positioning this post
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