Hummingbirds of Orange County • A Sea and Sage Audubon Society Presentation •
from our friends at Sea & Sage Audubon Society
• Orange County Chapter •
Explore the life of hummingbirds through the fun facts and photographs in this brochure. From torpor and gorget to trap-lining and hawking, these beautiful birds of the air have interesting adaptations and behaviors for their very fast lifestyle. How many can you find? Happy hummingbird watching!
Life in the Fast Lane
• Size: Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world! They are found only in the Americas.
• Feet: Hummingbirds belong to bird order Apodiformes which means “without feet”: hummingbirds and swifts have small, weak feet and legs. They can grip and perch but cannot walk or turn around.
• Wings: Hummingbird wings beat in a side-ways “figure 8” which allows them to fly forward & backward, sideways, up & down, hover in place, and even upside down!
• Torpor: Hummingbirds lower their body temperature and heart rate to conserve energy when there is not enough food or temperatures are too cold. They reawaken in less than an hour.
• Heartbeat: Hummingbird hearts vary from 50 beats/minute during torpor to 250 beats/minute at rest and 1,250 beats/minute while flying!
• Tongue: Their tongue is long and grooved. It can extend beyond the bill tip and wraps around the base of the skull.
• Flashing colors: Iridescence on the tips of feathers on the throat (gorget) and crown of male hummingbirds create a flash of color when the bird, observer, and sun are properly aligned. Iridescence is formed not from pigments but physical characteristics within the feather that amplify certain wavelengths of light (purple, red, orange, etc).
Foraging for Nectar
• Hummingbirds are mostly nectivores (eat flower nectar) but also eat any insect or spider it can swallow.
• High metabolism means they need to eat a lot; hummingbirds feed every 10-15 minutes.
• Hummingbirds lap up nectar instead of sucking. Capillary action moves nectar up the tongue’s grooves into its mouth.
• Hummingbird-pollinated plants have thick flowers with a tubular shape and no scent.
• Hummingbird-pollinated plants deposit pollen in a specific place on a humming-bird’s head to increase cross-pollination.
• Trap-lining: Hummingbirds visit flower patches in a certain sequence during their daily rounds. Nectar reforms between visits.
• They can visit 1,000-2,000 flowers per day.
Foraging for Insects
• Insects and spiders are an important part of a hummingbird’s diet.
• Catch insects by hawking: Hummingbirds perch and watch for flying insect, then fly out to capture the prey.
• Catch insects and spiders by gleaning: Hummingbirds hover and pick prey off plants.
• Anna’s Hummingbirds feed at sapsucker (a woodpecker) wells on sap and insects.
This is MY Space!
• Male hummingbirds defend territories that are rich in food sources.
• To defend territories, males use warning sounds, flash the iridescent feathers on their gorget and crown, and physically attack the intruder. These are feisty birds!
• The male’s display involves a steep climb upward and then rapid dive down towards the ground. The shape of dive is species-specific such as Anna’s “J- shape” and Black-chinned’s “U-shape”.
• The “pop” sound at the bottom of display is created by special shape of tail feathers. It is not a vocalization.
• Female hummingbirds select territories with good quality nesting sites.
Migration and Hazards
• Many North American hummingbird species winter south of the USA-Mexican border. In Orange County, Anna’s and Allen’s are year-round residents.
• Dangers include collision with windows and outdoor cats. We can protect hummingbirds by preventing these hazards. For information about preventing window strikes, go to:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/why-birds-hit-windows-and-how-you-can-help-prevent-it/
Orange County Species
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Anna's Hummingbird
This hardy little bird is a permanent resident along our Pacific Coast, staying through the winter in many areas where no other hummingbirds are present. More vocal than most hummingbirds, males have a buzzy song, often given while perched. In recent decades the species has expanded its range, probably helped along by flowers and feeders in suburban gardens; it now nests north to British Columbia and east to Arizona. |
Allen's Hummingbird
A close relative of the Rufous Hummingbird, Allen's has a more limited range, nesting mostly in California. This is one of the two common nesting hummingbirds in northern California gardens (Anna's is the other). Females and immatures of Allen's Hummingbird are almost impossible to separate from Rufous females without close examination, so the status of the species in migration is still being worked out by dedicated hummingbird banders. |
Black-Chinned Hummingbird
Over much of the west, this species is widespread in many habitats at low elevations, often coming into suburban gardens and nesting in back yards within its range. Several other western hummingbirds may stay through the winter, at least in small numbers, but the Black-chin is almost entirely absent from the west in winter. |
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Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
Streamsides, foothill oak woodlands. Breeds mostly in semi-open habitats at around 3,000-5,000 feet in Arizona. Favors areas with streamside groves of sycamore or cottonwoodand with dense mesquite thickets, or open oak woodlands in lower canyons. In winter may be found along streams in desert country. |
Calliope Hummingbird
This is the smallest bird in North America, measuring about 3 inches long and weighing about one-tenth of an ounce. Despite its tiny size, it is able to survive cold summer nights at high elevations in the northern Rockies, and some migrate every year from Canada all the way to southern Mexico. In migration it may be overlooked, often feeding at low flowers and avoiding the aggression of larger hummingbirds. |
Costa's Hummingbird
The desert might seem like a bad place for a creature that feeds at flowers, but it is the favored habitat for Costa's Hummingbird. In Arizona and California deserts, this species nests during late winter and spring, and most then avoid the hot summer by migrating to coastal California and Baja. The thin, high-pitched whistle of the male is often heard over desert washes in early spring. |
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Anna's Hummingbird
This hardy little bird is a permanent resident along our Pacific Coast, staying through the winter in many areas where no other hummingbirds are present. More vocal than most hummingbirds, males have a buzzy song, often given while perched. In recent decades the species has expanded its range, probably helped along by flowers and feeders in suburban gardens; it now nests north to British Columbia and east to Arizona. |
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Allen's Hummingbird
A close relative of the Rufous Hummingbird, Allen's has a more limited range, nesting mostly in California. This is one of the two common nesting hummingbirds in northern California gardens (Anna's is the other). Females and immatures of Allen's Hummingbird are almost impossible to separate from Rufous females without close examination, so the status of the species in migration is still being worked out by dedicated hummingbird banders. |
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Black-Chinned Hummingbird
Over much of the west, this species is widespread in many habitats at low elevations, often coming into suburban gardens and nesting in back yards within its range. Several other western hummingbirds may stay through the winter, at least in small numbers, but the Black-chin is almost entirely absent from the west in winter. |
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Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
Streamsides, foothill oak woodlands. Breeds mostly in semi-open habitats at around 3,000-5,000 feet in Arizona. Favors areas with streamside groves of sycamore or cottonwoodand with dense mesquite thickets, or open oak woodlands in lower canyons. In winter may be found along streams in desert country. |
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Calliope Hummingbird
This is the smallest bird in North America, measuring about 3 inches long and weighing about one-tenth of an ounce. Despite its tiny size, it is able to survive cold summer nights at high elevations in the northern Rockies, and some migrate every year from Canada all the way to southern Mexico. In migration it may be overlooked, often feeding at low flowers and avoiding the aggression of larger hummingbirds. |
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Costa's Hummingbird
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Smallest Nest in the World
• A hummingbird nest is the smallest nest in the world!
• The nest is cup-shaped on top of a thin branch and lined with soft material (e.g., sycamore leaf fuzz) and held together with spider webs. Lichen or bark may be used on the outside of the nest for camouflage.
• Some hummingbirds re-use nests while others recycle materials from old nests.
• The female does everything: nest-building, incubating eggs, and caring for the young.
• Females usually lay two white eggs.
Feeding Hummingbirds
To attract hummingbirds to your OC yard, plant locally native plants such as penstemons, California fuchsia, and island snapdragon. You can also use a sugar water feeder by mixing a ratio of one-part table sugar dissolved in four-parts water, do not use food coloring, and change it often (daily in hot weather).