There are more than 300 diverse species of hummingbirds. They live only in North America, Central America and South America.
There are a variety of sizes and colors and they’ve have evolved with bills that have a shape and length to match flowers they feed from.
Anna’s hummingbirds can be spotted year-round in the Pacific Northwest. Rufous migrates from areas of Mexico all the way to Alaska. Other hummingbirds that may be seen include: calliope, black-chinned, and rarely the broad-tailed, Costa’s and Allen’s.
The Pacific Northwest’s male hummingbirds have a reflective, brilliantly colored head and/or neck/gorget to help in their territorial displays and to attract the attention of females. The females are more camouflaged to blend into their nest. Immature or juvenile hummingbirds are often indistinguishable from adult females in the field.
Here are some clues to identify four hummingbirds you might see locally.
Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna)
• They are 3.9-4.3 inches long.
• Range expansion is due to urban plantings with year-round blooms and warming temperatures. Numbers of this species have been rising slightly.
• The adult male is very vocal, has gray tail feathers, green back and grayish white below. The gorget is iridescent fuchsia pink that also covers its head.
His tail extends past the wingtips, and he uses a J-shaped courtship dive pattern with a final burst of sound from air whipping through the tail feathers.
• The adult female has a green back, grayish below, possibly gray, bronze or central splotch of rose on gorget. She breeds early, often has two clutches.
Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
• They are 3.5 inches long.
• Numbers of this species have been declining.
• The adult male has a rufous brown back, tail and sides; a brown/green crown; iridescent orange-red gorget; and white breast.
• The wing tips create a “bumblebee” noise while in flight. Its black-tipped tail feathers extend past wings when perched.
• The male uses an oval shaped courtship dive pattern.
• Rufous hummingbirds are known for their sheer determination to guard a food source.
• The adult female has a green back and crown, white breast, rufous sides and base of tail feathers, white tips on outer tail. Often the gorget is speckled with orange-red or has a full central patch of orange-red.
Calliope hummingbird (Stellula calliope) (rare)
• They are 3.1-3.5 inches long, the smallest hummingbird that migrates into the United States. • They prefer high elevations.
• The adult male has a metallic green back and crown, with a white gorget with fuchsia-red colored rays of feathers that extend outward from the throat during courtship displays.The wings extend to the tail or slightly past.
The male uses a U-shaped courtship dive pattern.
• The adult female has coloring similar to other females but shorter bill and tail.
•The wingtips extend past the tail when perched.
Black-chinned (Archilochus alexandri) (rare)
• They are 3.75 inches long.
• The adult male has a metallic green back, crown and breast, and a noticeably dark head with a black gorget with a band of purple against a white collar.
The wingtips are curved and broad, and tail feathers are green and black. Watch for a wide U-shaped dive pattern.
• The adult female has a green back and crown, white breast (green-gray overall appearance), white throat, often with dark or dusty streaks, and white tipped outer tail feathers.
Facts about hummingbirds
Hummingbirds were given that name not because of vocalization, but because air moving across their wings causes a humming sound. The sound is different for each species. The male rufous announces himself with the “bumblebee like” buzz due to a gap at the tip of its wing feathers. All can announce themselves with a “chipping” vocalization.
More than a third of the hummingbird’s weight comes from its chest muscles that give it power in both the up- and down-wing strokes. These muscles are needed to power its amazing flight forward, sideways, backward and even upside down. When hovering, the wings move in a unique figure eight motion.
A hummingbird’s tongue can extend as much as twice the length of its beak, allowing it to reach deeply into flowers for nectar. The grooved and fringed end of a tongue allows for rapid absorption of liquid by capillary action. The tongue muscle, or hyoid apparatus, originates on the birds’ forehead and wraps all the way around the back of the skull to the base of the beak. A hummingbird can lick approximately 13 times a second.
Their reduced body size allows for more efficient flight and hovering abilities, but also leads to heat loss. In order to maintain normal body temperature, hummingbirds must consume a huge amount of calories — as much as one to 1.5 times their body weight of nectar each day. The sugar in nectar can be digested and turned into fuel almost instantly. It is estimated that hummingbirds visit more than 500-2,000 flowers a day. Hummingbirds get their much needed protein, fats and minerals from frequently eating a variety of small insects and arachnids.
During their search for nectar, hummingbirds transport pollen that has adhered to their beaks and heads due to the unique shape of some flowers. Many native tubular flowers depend on hummingbirds for pollination.
The heart of a hummingbird is the largest, in relation to body size, of any bird. It can beat over 400 times a minute and increase to 1,200 times a minute if stressed. Hummingbirds can breathe 250 times a minute, compared to 16 times per minute for humans.
Many of the Pacific Northwest hummingbirds weigh approximately one-tenth of an ounce or 3 grams, which is the weight of a penny. Anna’s may weigh as much as two pennies. The females often weigh slightly more than the males of the same species. When preparing to migrate south, a 3 gram hummingbird may fatten to more than 5 grams or the weight of a nickel.
The females build a camouflaged, cup shaped nest from lichen, moss, feathers and hair — bound with spider web and lined with plant down. About the size of a walnut, the nest stretches as the nestlings grow. Two white eggs the size of coffee beans will hatch with only the female incubating and feeding the nestlings.
Many hummingbirds migrate 2,000 to 3,000 miles each way. For example, the rufous migrate from Central America to areas north of the Pacific Northwest to breed. Several species balance the risks of migration with the rewards of less competition for food sources and expanded territories.
Tips to attract them to your Keizer yard
Want to see hummingbirds in your yard? Try these tips:
• Plant flowers. Tubular flowers contain nectar, while other flowers attract insects they need for food.
• Add a water source. Hummingbirds need to bathe frequently and are drawn to fountains, sprinklers and even misters.
• Use organic methods in your garden that benefit all pollinators and provide insects for hummingbird diet.
• Hang a hummingbird feeder. The best are red, have a perch of some sort and can be properly cleaned. Never add red food coloring, and note that purchased solutions are not recommended as they spoil faster and have possibly harmful additives.
• Fill the feeder with a solution of one part white sugar to four parts water. The solution can be heated, then cooled to dissolve the sugar.
• Change the feeder solution every three days in warm weather. Scrub with a brush to remove mold or bacteria.
(OSU Extension Service)
