Editing Hummingbird (section)

===Life cycle===
[[File:Allens hummingbird on nest (26198483795).jpg|left|thumb|A nesting female Allen's hummingbird]]
[[File:Allen's Hummingbird Nest (8563916462).jpg|thumb|Each approximately the size of a pea, two eggs in the nest of an Allen's hummingbird]]

Hummingbirds begin mating when they are a year old.<ref name=scien/> Sex occurs over 3–5 seconds when the male [[Bird anatomy#Reproduction|joins its cloaca]] with the female's, passing sperm to fertilize the female's eggs.<ref name="scien">{{cite web |last1=Mohrman |first1=Eric |title=How do hummingbirds mate? |url=https://sciencing.com/hummingbirds-mate-4566850.html |publisher=Sciencing, Leaf Media Group Ltd. |access-date=17 April 2023 |date=22 November 2019}}</ref>

Hummingbird females build a nest resembling a small cup about {{convert|1.5|in|cm}} in diameter, commonly attached to a tree branch using spider webs, [[lichen]]s, moss, and loose strings of plant fibers (image).<ref name=eb-h/><ref name=smithsonian/> Typically, two [[pea]]-shaped white eggs (image) {{ndash}} the smallest of any bird {{ndash}} are incubated over 2–3 weeks in breeding season.<ref name=eb-h/><ref name=smithsonian/> Fed by [[Regurgitation (digestion)|regurgitation]] only from the mother, the chicks [[fledge]] about 3 weeks after hatching.<ref name=smithsonian/><ref name="central">{{cite web |title=Hummingbird facts and family introduction |url=https://www.hummingbirdcentral.com/hummingbird-facts.htm |publisher=Hummingbird Central |access-date=4 April 2023 |date=2023}}</ref>
[[File:Friday's Hummingbird Nest (8819601954).jpg|thumb|Hummingbird nestlings ready to fledge]]

The average lifespan of a [[ruby-throated hummingbird]] is estimated to be 3–5 years, with most deaths occurring in yearlings,<ref name=central/> although one [[Bird ringing|banded]] ruby-throated hummingbird lived for 9 years and 2 months.<ref name="ruby">{{cite web |title=Ruby-throated hummingbird |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-throated_Hummingbird/ |publisher=All About Birds, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology |access-date=23 April 2023 |date=2023}}</ref> Bee hummingbirds live 7–10 years.<ref name=ADW/>