Anna's Hummingbird

Calypte annaOrder: APODIFORMESFamily: Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Desert, Desert, semi, Streams, upland, Scrub vegetation areas

Breeding Type:

Polygamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Increasing, Abundant

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

1 - 3

Incubation Days:

14 - 19

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Plant down bound with spider silk and lined with plant down or feathers.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

Overview

Anna's Hummingbird: Medium hummingbird; male has bronze-green upperparts, dull gray underparts. Hood and throat are iridescent red, may appear black or dark purple in low light; broken white eye-ring is usually visible. Tail is dark green with black outer tail feathers. Feeds on nectar, insects, spiders, and sap.

Range and Habitat

Anna's Hummingbird: Resident from northern California southward; spends winters regularly from British Columbia south to Arizona. Preferred habitats include chaparral, brushy oak woodlands, and gardens.

Breeding and Nesting

Anna's Hummingbird: One to three white eggs are laid in a tiny woven cup of small twigs and lichens fastened onto a sheltered horizontal limb. Incubation ranges from 14 to 19 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Anna's Hummingbird: Feeds on flower nectar with long bill and tongue while hovering. Most attracted to long, tubular flowers, with red, orange, or violet hues; also uses holes in trees to extract sap and feeds on flying insects or those trapped in spider webs.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water, Commercial instant nectars

Vocalization

Anna's Hummingbird: Calls include a sharp "chip" and rapid "chee-chee-chee-chee-chee."

Similar Species

Anna's Hummingbird: Black-chinned Hummingbird is smaller with paler underparts, purple crown and throat, white eyebrow, and slightly down-curved bill. Costa’s Hummingbird is smaller with purple throat, white spot behind eye, and slightly down-curved bill.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Anna's Hummingbird

● Song: "chip" , "chee-chee-chee-chee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Anna's Hummingbird: Feeds on flower nectar with long bill and tongue while hovering. Most attracted to long, tubular flowers, with red, orange, or violet hues; also uses holes in trees to extract sap and feeds on flying insects or those trapped in spider webs.

● Breeding & nesting: Anna's Hummingbird: One to three white eggs are laid in a tiny woven cup of small twigs and lichens fastened onto a sheltered horizontal limb. Incubation ranges from 14 to 19 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Anna's Hummingbird: Black-chinned Hummingbird is smaller with paler underparts, purple crown and throat, white eyebrow, and slightly down-curved bill. Costa’s Hummingbird is smaller with purple throat, white spot behind eye, and slightly down-curved bill.

Flight Pattern

Swift darting direct flight.

● Range & Habitat: Anna's Hummingbird: Resident from northern California southward; spends winters regularly from British Columbia south to Arizona. Preferred habitats include chaparral, brushy oak woodlands, and gardens.

^BreedingPolygamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationIncreasing, Abundant

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.1 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America