Nesting Time!

Anna's Hummingbirds already at work

Photo of Anna's Hummingbird was taken in Lions Bay by Danielle Wills.

Many residents know to avoid tree work during the songbird nesting season (mid-March – late August), but did you know our official Village bird, the Anna’s Hummingbird, is already nesting?

By now the Anna’s mamas have eggs the size of jelly beans or even miniscule nestlings. Their toonie-sized homes are carefully engineered in shrubs and trees from plant fibres, spider webs, feathers and lichen.

If you’re planning tree work, here are some tips to avoid harming these little families:

1.     Stop: stand or sit still for a time in a spot where you can see your garden.

2.     Observe: Look for bird activity. Do you see birds flitting in and out of a particular area? If so, there’s likely a nest there.

3.     Avoid noise or activity in the vicinity of a nest: parents may be scared away, leaving eggs or nestlings vulnerable.

It takes an average of 18 – 23 days until Anna’s Hummingbird chicks fledge from the time the eggs hatch. More fascinating facts about these popular birds can be found HERE.

Please join Bird Friendly and Nature Lions Bay, the Lions Bay Butterflyway Project, Lions Bay Climate Action Committee and the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative on Sunday, March 1 at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber for a 2026 update.

Lions Bay writer Maria Escobar Trujillo will end the session with a reading from her new book, Cartographies of the Woods, copies of which will be for sale.

Admission is free but donations are welcome. Tea, coffee and treats will be served. Many thanks to Wild Birds Unlimited North Vancouver for donating the organic, shade-grown Bird Friendly coffee.

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