Birds · Apodiformes · Trochilidae

Anna's Hummingbird

Calypte anna

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Anna's hummingbird is the resident hummingbird par excellence of the west coast of the United States: unlike almost all its relatives it does not migrate, and it spends the winter in California and the north-west. The male has a head and throat covered in iridescent feathers of an intense magenta pink. Its range has expanded enormously northwards thanks to gardens planted with exotics and to sugar feeders.

Weight

3 g – 6 g

Size

9 cm – 11 cm

Lifespan

8 years

Diet

Nectarivore

Feeds mainly on flower nectar.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestDesertGrasslandNectarivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Temperate forest Desert Grassland

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Fun facts

GeneralThe male dives at 90 km/h and produces a chirp with his tail feathers.
Its courtship dive reaches almost 100 kilometres an hour and, relative to its size, is the fastest descent of any vertebrate: it exceeds 385 body lengths per second, more than a fighter jet at full power.
At the end of that dive it produces a sharp chirp that comes not from its throat but from its tail feathers, which vibrate as they spread in the air for a fraction of a second.
It has extended its range hundreds of kilometres northwards over the past century, as far as Canada, following urban gardens and feeders, and now sees out snowy winters by entering torpor every night.