Anna's Hummingbird - ©ingridtaylar
Anna’s Hummingbird –> Calypte anna
Hummingbird Factoids:
- Hummingbirds occur only in the New World. There are occasional reports of hummingbirds in Europe but they’re thought to be escaped from captivity. Fossilized skeletons of ancient hummingbirds were, however, found in Germany.
- Hummingbird wings flap at about 80 flaps/second during normal flight. Their heart beats at 1200 beats per minute during feeding or flying.
- The range of Anna’s Hummingbirds has expanded, in part, due to milder temperatures northward as well as increased availability of food in ornamental gardens.
- Anna’s eat nectar from plants as well as small insects.
- Baby hummingbirds are fully grown when they leave the nest.
- Anna’s Hummingbirds are found throughout California, north into British Columbia and east to Texas.
- Hummingbirds can enter torpor while they sleep — a state similar to hibernation.
This article from Living the Scientific Life explains torpor in more detail. The writer also describes the hummingbird’s energy requirements, along with other info about hummingbird survival:
How Do Hummingbirds Survive Cold Nights?
Anna's Hummingbird - ©ingridtaylar
Anna's Hummingbird in Flight
Hummingbird by Wilco
These photos are amazing. I love the third one especially. We only get ruby throateds here.
Hi, Dan, thanks for the kind note. The ruby-throateds are beautiful and, obviously, we don’t see them around here. People confuse this bird (the Anna’s) with the ruby sometimes — if they don’t know. The males, in good light, have a beautiful, magenta-coloring around their head.