The are currently sitting on their 3rd brood. The mating dive is an astonishing showy flight with many loops and zigzags. Birds may pose a risk to air safety. Mating birds can be tricky to observe, but if you spend enough time quietly watching you will definitely catch it. In fact, hummingbirds often get right up in each other's faces. I have two sets of breeding love birds, my question re revolves around my one set, Brock and Ava, my Peach-faced love birds who I believe are about 3 yrs old. It’s quite a subtle behavior but this is exactly when the eggs are being laid… during this stage 3, just before moving into stage 4. The intricate moves of a mating dance and the charming songs used to woo partners can help distinguish species so birds are sure to choose genetically compatible mates. Hummingbird Mating is a Great Performance. Usually the male flies up to an unbelievable 150 feet in the air and then plummets straight down pulling up just before impact. Many birds mate with members of other bird species occasionally, producing hybrid offspring. If you require a licence for this purpose please email [email protected] with the following information: Your name and contact details; The site name and location; The bird species you wish to be licensed for; Other species or purposes. Different courtship behaviors also reduce territorial aggression, letting two birds relax together to form a pair bond. This can sometimes look like they're actually mating in the air, because they can get very close. Appearances aside, hummingbirds don't actually mate in midair. Male hummingbirds will do a sort of "dance off" when fighting over territory, and several hummingbirds will get together to chase off an outsider. The courtship dive of the Anna’s Hummingbird is the most spectacular of all. I usually see birds mating in the morning hours, and it might only go on for a few days or a week before all the eggs are in the nest. About 10% of the 10,000 bird species in the world are known to have bred with any other species at least once, maybe in the wild or in captivity, according to Irby J. Lovette, the Director, Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.