Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna

Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, March 2006. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna. Photographs taken in the greater Santa Barbara area, Santa Barbara, California, September 2021. Photographs courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Background and Identification

Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna, is a member of the Trochilidae Family of Hummingbirds, which has three hundred fifty-two members placed in one hundred thirteen genera, and one of two global species of the Calypte Genus. The name comes from Anna, the Duchess of Rivoli, who served as Grand-Maitresse to Empress Eugénie de Montijo in Paris from 1853 to 1870. They can only move via flight as their legs cannot support their body weight. They move frequently following flower blooms. They consume nectar from many species of flowers, small insects, and spiders. In some regions, they are year-round residents. The females and males live separate lives and associate only for breeding. The females defend their feeding territories, construct nests, incubate the eggs, and care for the nestlings. Anna’s Hummingbird is poorly studied and very little about their behavioral patterns has been documented. They are known in Mexico as Colibrí de Anna.

Anna’s Hummingbird is a medium-sized stocky hummingbird. They are sexually dimorphic, females are drabber in color. They are an iridescent bronzy green dorsally and grayish below. The males have a rose gorget and crown. The females have rose feathers in the center of their gorget but do not have magenta feathers on the crown. The males are known for their spectacular plumage and red cap of rich amethyst-colored plumage that covers the entire head and glitters as if dipped in molten metal. Both sexes exhibit a sleek, streamlined body and a relatively straight bill, which they use to feed on nectar from flowers and feeders, as well as small insects. They turn their head from side to side as they sing, flashing the brilliant iridescence. Males are also known for their elaborate dive displays, in which they ascend to 35 m (115 feet) and then plummet toward a female Anna’s Hummingbird or other bird. Males sing more conspicuously than any other North American hummingbird and have a very complex song.

Habitat and Geographical Range

Anna’s Hummingbirds are highly adaptable and occupy a wide range of habitats, including riparian woodlands, savannahs, coastal scrub, parkland, and urban and suburban environments with many flowering exotic plants. They are well-adapted to urban environments, often frequenting backyard feeders and ornamental plants.

Unlike many hummingbird species, Anna’s Hummingbird is mostly non-migratory, many individuals remain in their territories year-round, particularly in areas with mild winters and ample food sources. They are found along the Pacific Coast, from southern Alaska to Baja California. In Mexico, Anna’s Hummingbird has a limited distribution. They can be found in northern Baja California, northern Sonora, northwest Chihuahua, and occasionally in Coahuila and Nuevo León.

Common Misidentifications

Identifying this species is straightforward. Anna’s Hummingbird is the only North American hummingbird with a rose gorget and crown, which makes for an easy identification. To differentiate Anna’s Hummingbird from other hummingbird species of similar size, observers should look for the distinctive forget and the bird’s slightly larger size compared to its relatives.

Conservation Status

From a conservation perspective Anna’s Hummingbird is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. This species has benefited from human development due to the addition of widely cultivated urban and suburban exotic plants and backyard hummingbird feeders.