How Can Humble Hummingbird Nesting Material Teach Us Spiritual Truths?

We can learn spiritual truths from the smallest of creatures. Here’s what I learned from hummingbird nesting materials.

I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding.

Psalm 119:32 NLT

Have You Ever Looked at Hummingbird Nesting Material?

I almost didn’t see the nest. Perched in the fork of two branches smaller than my pinkie, the nest seemed impossibly small. I held my phone overhead and snapped a few photos of the inside of the nest, hoping to see eggs.

Sure enough, two jelly-bean-sized eggs lay in the deep cup. I quickly stepped away, not wanting to prevent the mama hummingbird from sitting on her eggs.

Hummingbird nesting materials might surprise you. The tiny birds gather moss, thistledown, lichen, grass, and spider web silk to construct their tiny nurseries.

Some species of hummingbirds build directly on top of a branch, others choose a fork. Hummingbird nesting materials differ by species and location, but they share one common trait: spider web silk.

The female hummingbird winds the spider web silk around the walls of her nest, creating a structure that can expand. Why? Because of their small size (the smallest hummingbird measures a mere two inches long), hummingbirds must make the most of their body heat to properly incubate their eggs.

After the eggs hatch, the chicks progress from naked to ready to fly in just over two weeks. Hummingbirds use spider silk use for nesting materials because it allows the nest to rapidly expand to hold the growing babies.

Spider Web Silk in Our Lives

As baby Christians, our knowledge of God expands rapidly. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (all we must do is ask) expands our understanding of spiritual truths.

Sometimes, I act like a cliff swallow instead of a hummingbird. I build a rigid house of mud around myself—content with what I already know about scripture and the nature of God. Instead, I need to build like a hummingbird, choosing nesting materials that can withstand high winds and pressures from within (and without).

May we always pursue God’s commands, constantly seeking to expand our knowledge and understanding of his word.