Anna's Hummingbird

About the Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a North American species of hummingbird named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli. It is native to western coastal regions of North America. Until the late 20th century, Anna's hummingbirds migrated from locations as far north as Alaska and coastal British Columbia, returning south to breed in Baja California and Southern California.

Since the 1970s, ornamental plants in residential areas along the Pacific coast and inland deserts provided expanded nectar and nesting sites, allowing the species to expand its breeding range to northern coastal regions without migrating. Year-round residence of Anna's hummingbirds in 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.

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. Anna's hummingbird was formally described and illustrated in 1829 by the French naturalist René Lesson in his Histoire naturelle des Oiseaux-Mouches from a specimen that... Wikipedia →