OMG I am at fault for little babies that i just found in our low lying baby olive tree. I thought the nest at first was a wasps nest but as I got closer it didnt look like a wasps nest. Like a few in here I very gently pulled the branch to look inside and two little eggs were in there. She landed back in the nest when I got in my car and all looked well. When i got home I notices the nest looked like it had tipped sideways and she was hovering and I was thinking what the hell happened and it hit me I may have loosened it when I pulled the branch to investigate and worse the winds picked up really bad the last 24 hours. I saw her flying madly trying to get to it. Seems I epicly failed in trying to secure the branch to "adjust it which helped keep her and babies hidden. she kept flying to the nest but I havent seen her. I left a camera to watch for her and will check the footage; but after reading everything I think i just killed two little creatures due to my own stupidity. I feel horrible. This would have been the first set of humming bird babies I have ever seen and the second nest in my life time I have ever found on my property. I am so sorry for this I really didn't mean to hurt anyone let alone a tiny little bird and her nest. :(

They can but once the female starts incubating you don't see them very often. You may just be missing them. What you could do is very carefully take a sharpie and mark a small dot on one of the eggs and then check the next day to see if the mark has moved. The eggs are turned during incubation so the dot should not stay in the same place. Even if the dot doesn't move though give the eggs the proper 14+ days to hatch, so count from the day the last egg was laid and then at least 14 days from that date to decide if the eggs aren't viable anymore. I have had a male go missing when the female was incubating, he was gone for four days but she as still there. Good luck, hope you are just missing seeing them.

I HAVE BABIES! I just got back a few minutes ago from being gone several days. Went right out to check the box, and just as I got there mom came flying up. My heart leapt! I peeked in very quickly, just long enough to see some fluff; didn't want to take the time to count. (It's a deep nest and I have to use a little dental mirror to even see down inside it.) Any luck w/ you yet sagrinin? Thanx again to everyone for your encouragement and reassurance!

Hey- I left a message a few posts ago with suggestions on how you can tell if they're still viable. I would leave you the same exact message. Nicole