Anna’s Hummingbird

Calypte anna

Tiny but fierce. Hovers at your window until you notice you've got mail.

Population: Roughly 8-9.6 million individuals globally; trend increasing
Habitat: Open woodland, chaparral, coastal scrub, oak savannah, and mountain meadows; highly adapted to urban and suburban environments (gardens, parks, eucalyptus groves) where feeders and ornamental flowers support it year-round.
Fun fact: During courtship, male Anna's Hummingbirds perform steep high-speed dives during which they reach roughly 50 mph (about 385 body-lengths per second) and produce a loud chirp at the bottom of the dive using specialized tail feathers, not their voice.
Range: Pacific coast of North America, from southern British Columbia (Canada) south through the western U.S. (California, Oregon, Washington) to northern Baja California, Mexico, with inland range into Arizona, southern Nevada, southeastern Utah, and western Texas; range has expanded substantially northward since the 1930s-70s (historically limited mainly to California/Baja California).
Diet: Primarily nectar from flowering plants (currant, gooseberry, manzanita, eucalyptus) and sugar water at feeders; supplemented with small flying insects and spiders (midges, whiteflies, leafhoppers) caught in flight or gleaned from webs, plus tree sap from sapsucker wells.
Size: 0.1 m
Wingspan: 0.12 m
Lifespan: 8.5 years

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