Anna's Hummingbird

Calypte annaOrder: APODIFORMESFamily: Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Anna's Hummingbird Variations

Default description
Anna's Hummingbird: Immature

Default description
Anna's Hummingbird: Female

Default description
Anna's Hummingbird: Male

General

Anna's Hummingbird: Medium-sized hummingbird; male has bronze-green upperparts and dull gray underparts. Hood and throat are iridescent red, but 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. Female is duller with a green cap and sometimes shows metallic red or purple patches and spots on throat. Dark green tail is white-tipped. Subadult male resembles female but has darker throat with distinctive streaking and may show red spots on crown. Juvenile resembles female but has white throat with faint spotting.

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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chip" , "chee-chee-chee-chee"

Interesting Facts

Anna's Hummingbirds consume more insects than any other North American hummingbird.
Increased planting of ornamental, flowering plants, due to development in California over the past fifty years, has allowed these birds to greatly expand their breeding range.
Their hearts beat at 1260 beats per minute.
A group of hummingbirds has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "glittering", " hover", "shimmer", and "tune" of hummingbirds.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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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

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.

● 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