Name That Hummingbird

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Adult Male… Mrs. Paton’s feeders, Patagonia, Arizona, USA — 2005 April – wikipedia.org

Adult Female… © 2004 Tom Greer – tbphotos@comcast.net – calphotos.berkeley.edu

Juvenile Male… © 2008 Ron Wolf – calphotos.berkeley.edu

Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)…

The Anna’s hummingbirds are medium sized – the mature adults are only 3½ inches in length.

The male Anna’s Hummingbirds have a glossy green back, grey underparts, grey flanks, and an entirely black tail. His bill is long, straight, and slender. His throat and crown are glossy red. In fact, Anna’s is the only species with a red crown.

The female Anna’s Hummingbirds are slightly larger than the male. She has a green crown and a gray breast, and her throat has variable amounts of thin, dark streaking and red markings. Her tail is also dark, but with white tips on the outer tail feathers… and her bill is long, straight, and slender just like the male’s.

The juvenile Anna’s Hummingbirds are identical to the adult females in size and coloring. Bird watchers are cautioned that the glossy red crown and throat of the male Anna’s hummingbird appears black in poor lighting. So, verify your identification in sunlight, at all angles.

Anna’s hummingbirds are permanent residents in parts of their range. Some birds may wander north as far as southern Alaska, south to Mexico or move east from California after nesting season. Some individuals have even been banded as far east as Alabama and Florida.

Their breeding habitat is open wooded or shrubby areas and mountain meadows along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Arizona. They are known to nest early as mid-December and as late as June, and have two and occasionally three broods each year..

Only the female Anna’s hummingbird constructs the nest and raises the young. She builds a round, 1½ to 2″cup shaped nest in a shrub or tree, sometimes in vines or on wires. She uses small twigs, lichen and other mosses, lines it with downy feathers or animal hair, and then uses spider webs to strengthen the nest.

She lays two white jelly-bean sized eggs, which she will incubate for 14 to 19 days. The young will leave the nest 18 to 23 days after hatching. Amazingly, she will continue to feed the fledglings for several more weeks, then the young are left to fend for themselves.

In case you were wondering, the Anna’s hummingbird was named after Anna Massena, Duchess of Rivoli.

 

Acknowledgements: www.wikipedia.com www.usgs.gov

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Video… “The Courtship Of Anna’s Hummingbird"

Thanks to Britannica Online for posting this video on www.YouTube.com

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Anna’s Hummingbird… Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) Map Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) This survey is typically performed in June by volunteers on over 4000 bird counts. The counts are done by vehicle during the morning. Many nocturnal or less vocal species are not well surveyed by the BBS. Data from this survey is used to generate the BBS maps. Courtesy of www.usgs.gov

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Anna’s Hummingbird… Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Map Christmas Bird Count (CBC) This survey is typically performed in one calendar day, any time from mid-December to early January by volunteers. Birds are counted in an area with a 15 mile radius. Data from this survey is used to generate the CBC maps. Courtesy of www.usgs.gov

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