Anna's hummingbird

Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized bird

species of the family Trochilidae. It was named after Anna Anna's hummingbird
Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.[3]

It is native to western coastal regions of North America. In the

early 20th century, Anna's hummingbirds bred only in northern
Baja California and southern California. The transplanting of
exotic ornamental plants in residential areas throughout the
Pacific coast and inland deserts provided expanded nectar and
nesting sites, allowing the species to expand its breeding
range.[3][4] Year-round residence of Anna's hummingbirds in Male flying in California, USA
the Pacific Northwest is an example of ecological release
dependent on acclimation to colder winter temperatures,
introduced plants, and human provision of nectar feeders
during winter.[5]

These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long

extendable tongue. They also consume small insects and other
arthropods caught in flight or gleaned from vegetation.

Contents
Description
Feather iridescence Female hovering
Behavior
0:00 / 0:00
Reproduction
call of the Anna's hummingbird
Locomotion
Distribution and population
Conservation status
Northern range expansion
Gallery
References
External links Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Description Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Anna's hummingbirds are 3.9 to 4.3  in (9.9 to 10.9  cm) long
with a wingspan of 4.7 inches (12 cm) and a weight range of Phylum: Chordata
0.1 to 0.2 oz (2.8 to 5.7 g).[4] They have an iridescent bronze- Class: Aves
green back, a pale grey chest and belly, and green flanks. Their
bills are long, straight, and slender. The adult male has an Order: Apodiformes
iridescent crimson-red, derived from magenta, to a reddish-pink Family: Trochilidae
crown and gorget, which can look dull brown or gray without
direct sunlight, and a dark, slightly forked tail. Females also Genus: Calypte
have iridescent red gorgets, although they are usually smaller Species: C. anna
and less brilliant than the male.[4]
Binomial name
Calypte anna
Feather iridescence
(Lesson, 1829)

Range of C. anna
A male Anna's hummingbird
displaying its iridescent head    Wintering range
feathers.    Breeding and wintering range

A male Anna's is the only North American hummingbird species

with a red crown.[4][6] Females and juvenile males have a dull green crown, a grey throat with or without
some red iridescence, a grey chest and belly, and a dark, rounded tail with white tips on the outer
feathers.[6]

The male Anna's hummingbird has a striking reddish-pink crown and gorget, which are strongly iridescent
and dependent on the angle of illumination and observation by female or male competitor birds.[6] The
iridescence results from large stacks of melanosomes in the feather barbules, occurring as layers separated
by keratin.[6] The barbules reflect incident light in the manner of partially-opened Venetian blinds, enabling
the iridescence – which varies the head and gorget coloration with the changing angle of light – as a
coloration advantage for courtship attraction and territory defense.[6]

Male Anna's hummingbirds with elevated levels of protein in their diet have more colorful crowns and
higher iridescence in their head feathers compared with male birds with low protein intake.[7]

Behavior
While collecting nectar, the Anna's hummingbird assists in plant pollination.[8] There is evidence that
Anna's hummingbirds in flight generate an electrostatic charge that would adhere pollen to their beaks and
feathers, facilitating transfer of pollen grains to hundreds of flowers per day while foraging for nectar.[9]
This species sometimes consumes tree sap.[10]
The male's call is scratchy and metallic, and it perches above head-level in trees and shrubs.[4] They are
frequently seen in backyards and parks, and commonly found at feeders and flowering plants. Anna's
hummingbirds eat flying insects.[11]

Anna's hummingbirds can shake their bodies 55 times per second to shed rain while in flight, or in dry
weather, to remove pollen or dirt from feathers.[12] Each twist lasts four-hundredths of a second and applies
34 times the force of gravity on the bird's head.[12]

Reproduction
Open-wooded or shrubby areas and mountain meadows along the
Pacific coast from British Columbia to Arizona make up C. anna's
breeding habitat. The female raises the young without the
assistance of the male. The female bird builds a nest in a shrub or
tree, in vines, or attached to wires or other artificial substrates. The
round, 3.8-to-5.1-centimetre (1.5 to 2.0  in) diameter nest is
constructed of plant fibers, downy feathers and animal hair; the
A female incubates eggs in a
exterior is camouflaged with chips of lichen, plant debris, and
camouflaged nest.
occasionally urban detritus such as paint chips and cigarette
paper.[3] The nest materials are bound together with spider silk.
They are known to nest as early as mid-December and as late as
June, depending on geographic location and climatic
conditions.[13][14]

Unlike most northern temperate hummingbirds, the male Anna's

hummingbird sings during courtship. The song is thin and squeaky,
interspersed with buzzes and chirps, and is drawn to over 10
seconds in duration. During the breeding season, males can be
Two nestlings are fed by a female
observed performing an aerial display dive over their territories.
hummingbird.
When a female flies onto a male's territory, the male rises up about
130  ft (40  m) before diving over the female. As the male
approaches the bottom of the dive, it reaches an average speed of
27  m/s (89  ft/s), which is 385 body lengths per second.[15] At the bottom of the dive, the male travels
23 m/s (51 mph), and produces an audible sound produced by the tail feathers, described by some as an
"explosive squeak".[16][17]

Anna's hummingbirds hybridize fairly frequently with other species, especially the congeneric Costa's
hummingbird.[3] These natural hybrids have been mistaken for new species. A bird, allegedly collected in
Bolaños, Mexico, was described and named Selasphorus floresii (Gould, 1861), or Floresi's hummingbird.
Several more specimens were collected in California over a long period, and the species was considered
extremely rare.[18]

The specimens were the hybrid offspring of an Anna's hummingbird and an Allen's hummingbird. A single
bird collected in Santa Barbara, California, was described and named Trochilus violajugulum (Jeffries,
1888), or violet-throated hummingbird.[19] It was later determined to be a hybrid between an Anna's
hummingbird and a black-chinned hummingbird.[20][21]

Locomotion
During hovering flight, Anna's hummingbirds maintain high wingbeat frequencies accomplished by their
large pectoral muscles via recruitment of motor units.[22] The pectoral muscles that power hummingbird
flight are composed exclusively of fast glycolytic fibers that respond rapidly and are fatigue-resistant.[22]

Distribution and population

Anna's hummingbirds are found along the western coast of North America, from southern Canada to
northern Baja California, and inland to southern and central Arizona, extreme southern Nevada and
southeastern Utah, and western Texas.[3][4] They tend to be permanent residents within their range.
However, birds have been spotted far outside their range in such places as southern Alaska, Saskatchewan,
New York, Florida, Louisiana, and Newfoundland.[23][24]

The population of Anna's hummingbirds is estimated to be 1.5 million, and appears to be stable.[1] They are
not an endangered species.[1] Among the eight most common hummingbirds in Canada and the United
States, only the population of Anna's hummingbirds has been increasing since 1970.[8]

Northern range expansion

Anna's hummingbirds have the northernmost year-round range of any hummingbird. Birds have been
recorded in Alaska as early as 1971, and resident in the Pacific Northwest since the 1960s, particularly
increasing as a resident population during the early 21st century.[5][25] Scientists estimate that some birds
overwinter and presumably breed at northern latitudes where food and shelter are available throughout
winter, tolerating moderately cold winter temperatures.[5][25]

During cold temperatures, Anna's hummingbirds gradually gain weight during the day as they convert
sugar to fat.[26][27] In addition, hummingbirds with inadequate stores of body fat or insufficient plumage
are able to survive periods of subfreezing weather by lowering their metabolic rate and entering a state of
torpor.[28]

While their range was originally limited to the chaparral of California and Baja California, it expanded
northward to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and east to Arizona in the 1960s and 70s.[5] This
rapid expansion is attributed to the widespread planting of non-native species, such as eucalyptus, as well
as the use of urban bird feeders, in combination with the species' natural tendency for extensive
postbreeding dispersal.[13][29] In the Pacific Northwest, the fastest growing populations occur in regions
with breeding-season cold temperatures similar to those of its native range.[5] Northward expansion of the
Anna's hummingbird represents an ecological release associated with introduced plants, year-round nectar
availability from feeders supplied by humans, milder winter temperatures possibly associated with climate
change, and acclimation of the species to a winter climate cooler than its native region.[5][25] Although
quantitative data are absent, it is likely that a sizable percentage of Anna's hummingbirds in the Pacific
Northwest still do migrate south for winter, as of 2017.[25]

In the 2017 Vancouver Official City Bird Election, Anna's hummingbird was named the official bird of the
city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,[30] where it resides year round through winter.[31]

Gallery


Female feeding A female A male Adult male

A juvenile California nest Female in California Feeding, Vancouver

compared to a Island
toothpick for scale
and probably
showing juvenile
molt plumage

References
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External links
Explore Species: Anna's Hummingbird (https://ebird.org/species/annhum) at eBird (Cornell
Lab of Ornithology)
Anna's Hummingbird photo gallery (http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SE
ARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=Anna's+Hummingbird&showwhat=images&AGE=All&S
EX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24) at
VIREO (Drexel University)

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