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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Hummingbirds


Hummingbirds live only in the Americas. Of the 338 species known, 16 are found in the United States and 14 Californian species. Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.

Male hummingbirds migrate northward as much as three weeks earlier in the spring than females. In the fall, the mature males similarly leave earlier than females and immature birds. Although Anna's Hummingbirds in coastal California, Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island do not migrate at all,. They are also the most common hummingbird in California.

The Portuguese name for "hummingbird" literally translated means "flower-kisser." Hummingbirds beat their wings at a rate of 40-80 per second. The heart rate for a hummingbird is between 500 and 1260 beats per minute during the day and drops to below 50 during the night.
Anna's hummingbird can be found in California year round If you see a hummingbird in winter, it is almost certainly an Anna’s, as a few over-winter. When seen in bright sunlight, the male has an iridescent red throat, forehead, and crown. The female lacks, or has little, red color but still has a green back like the male and a grayish belly.

A common bird of urban areas of California, the Anna's Hummingbird makes itself conspicuous by its behavior as well as its choice of habitat. The male sings frequently from exposed perches, and makes elaborate dive displays at other hummingbirds and sometimes at people.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna's Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range.

On rare occasions, bees and wasps may become impaled on the bill of an Anna's Hummingbird, causing the bird to starve to death.
Costa's Hummingbird is a desert species restricted to the far southwest and retreating just south of the border in winter months. Costa's are most abundant in the deserts of southern California and Arizona from March to April at the height of the breeding season.

Costa's have a light green back lacking rufous coloring on its short tail. Adult males have an iridescent purple crown and gorget (throat patch) that extends down around the outside of the chest (flared).  Female Costa's has gray underparts and may have a purple spot in the center of her throat. Females and juveniles are difficult to distinguish from Black-chinned and Anna's Hummingbirds.

Females care for the young on their own, as is custom among hummingbirds. Nests are built in shrubs and trees with variable cover, depending on climate and dominant vegetation. The nests are located only 1-2 m above ground and are usually shallow, loosely constructed, and flimsy. A clutch of two is laid anywhere from February to May, depending on location, and incubated for 15-18 days, with young fledging 20-23 days later. 
black chinned hummingbirds enjoy summers in California nature The black-chinned hummingbird measures about three and one-half inches long with a three and three-quarter-inch wing span. It weighs three to three and one-half grams, which is about equivalent to the weight of a dime plus a dollar bill. The male is dull metallic green above and gray below. He has a black chin and upper throat with a violet, iridescent lower throat which is known as a gorget (pronounced gore-jet). A white upper breast looks like a collar against the gorget. The female lacks the characteristic coloring on the chin and upper throat and lower throat.

Black-chinned hummingbirds perform an elaborate courtship display during breeding season. A male execute a series of U-shaped swoops where he passes close to the female at the bottom of his arc. During the pendulum-like flight, his wings make a whirling or whistling sound. After mating, the female builds a minute nest woven from the webs of spiders, down from plant seeds and hairs of hirsute leaves. Nests are built low in a canopy and upright on any structure from a limb to a telephone wire.

In spring Black-chinned Hummingbirds can be seen returning to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona from mid-March through May. They reach Southern California by late March. In fall they leave west-coast areas in mid-August and September.
One hummingbird may need nectar from hundreds of blossoms every day to maintain its body weight. Long needlelike bills and specially adapted tongues allow them to reach nectar in deep tubular flowers. The last half-inch of the long tongue is divided into equal halves, each grooved on the outside edge to form two tube-like structures. Nectar is drawn into the tongue much the same way liquid travels up a straw. Hummingbirds can lick at a rate of 13 times per second, and their stomach is capable of holding about 0.18 ounces of nectar at one time. They also feed to a lesser extent on insects.

For their size, hummingbirds have among the largest appetites in the bird world. They feed every 10 or 15 minutes from dawn until dusk. During this period, they eat more than half their weight in food and 8 times their weight in water. Hummingbirds have developed 2 adaptations to help them survive the hours of darkness when they cannot feed. First, they eat as much as they can just before dark. During the night, their heart rate and body temperature drop to conserve energy. If they did not go into this sort of daily hibernation stage, they likely would starve.
Blackbirds    California Condor    Cardinals    Cranes    Crows, Jays, & Magpies   Eagles    Finches    Flycatchers    Hawks Hummingbirds    Owls    Game Birds    Raptors    Shore Birds    Sparrows    Tanager    Thrushes    Vultures    Wading Birds Warblers      Woodpeckers      Wrens
 
 
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