Hummingbirds – Spiderwebs

Q: Back in late spring I noticed my first hummer of the year. It seemed to be concerned about a spider web near my feeder. I removed that web but saw it closely examining another spider web nearby. Why?

A: A female hummingbird will use spider web to knit together parts of her nest. The process of gathering the web is hazardous though. There are documented cases of hummingbirds being caught in a spider web and becoming a spider meal. Your first hummer was being duly cautious. My advice is to remove spider webs that are near your feeder. The spider can always make a new web nearby. Perhaps you can capture some webbing on a twig and leave it hanging near your feeder for a homeless hummingbird to discover.