Everyone loves to watch hummingbirds—tiny, brightly colored blurs that dart about, hovering at flowers and pugnaciously defending their ownership of a feeder. But to the scientists who study them, hummingbirds offer much more than an entertaining spectacle. Their small size and blazing metabolism mean they live life on a knife-edge, sometimes needing to shut down […]
Tag: Anna’s Hummingbird
My Favorite Bird Photos of 2013
At the end of each year I like to go back and look at the bird photographs I have taken and choose the ones I like the best for a “favorite bird photo” post. I try to pick at least one photograph from each month however some months were photographically prolific, others not so much. […]
Anna’s Hummingbirds at the Waterfall: Birds Can’t Resist Moving Water
If you want to attract birds to your yard you need three main attributes, food, shelter and water. For most song birds, a water source is essential for both drinking and bathing, and if you have a choice, running water is your best bet. Birds can’t resist moving water, as demonstrated by the Anna’s Hummingbirds […]
Summer Scenes of Critters at the Pond
A couple of weeks ago I kept hearing a simple, three pitched call from the yard. I went out to investigate and it was the Black-headed Grosbeak fledgling calling to be fed. Click on photos for full sized images. It was a familiar song but I hadn’t heard it since last year and it is […]
A Female Anna’s Hummingbird Exploring Peruvian Lilies
We have six large hummingbird feeders surrounding our house in Northern California but we also have several flower beds and native plants that the hummingbirds enjoy. As I sat on my back porch last weekend, contemplating mowing the native grasses surrounding the house and having some breakfast and my morning coffee, the hummers were all […]
Anna’s Hummingbird – Claypte anna
The Anna’s is one of the four different Hummingbird Species found along the Pacific coast of North America. Two species: the Anna’s Hummingbird, and the Costa’s Hummingbird are the only two in the genus Calye. This genus is the “helmeted” hummingbirds, so named because their crown and gorget (chin feathers) form an iridescent ‘helmet’. In […]
Costas, Annas, Allens and Others
Orange County, California, only gets several varieties of hummingbirds, but I never grow tired of trying to freeze them in time. Here are some of my favorite photos that I have taken over the last few years. I don’t believe in shooting them at feeders so all my shots are taken in the wild. Please […]
Anna’s Hummingbird at Cardinal Climber
Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calpte anna) are still buzzing around our garden. We usually have some hummingbirds that remain here during the winter so I leave my feeders up until I don’t see any hummers for several weeks. Click on photos for full sized images. To see more great bird photos, check out The Bird D’pot and […]