The hummers are back!

[jojo54]

Actually they have been back for awhile but I hadn't got any pics yet. They are so cute and delicate. We have one male (my husband calls him "the little king") who sits in the mountain ash and keeps an eye on the feeders so he can charge at any interlopers. Last year we had three feeders that he could see from the tree and he wouldn't let other hummers eat at any of them. We now hang all the feeders so you can't see one from the other. Yesterday, two other males were tag-teaming him. One would come from one direction and he would chase him away. While he was giving chase, the other who had been sitting in the cherry tree watching would fly in from that direction for a few sips before "king" saw him and chased him off. The other male would then come in from the first direction for a few sips. This went on for quite a while. It was neat to see and to hear the zip, zip, zip of the birds it flight.

 

[hoodat]

Here in San Diego we are very fortunate to have the Ana's humming bird. We are the only year round humming bird area in the US.

 

[lesa]

Oh lucky you! I have had my feeder up, but haven't seen any yet. I love all the birds- but I really get a kick out of the hummers! My favorite is when I see them out in the garden. I usually think they are bugs- they buzz by so quickly! You are in 4b, so they should be making there way to my neck of the woods!! Enjoy!

 

[hoodat]

The Ana's stay with us all year but the rubythroats have left (They only Winter here) so maybe they're on their way to you.

 

[bid]

I have the ruby throats here and have been trying to spot a nest for 2 years now with no luck. Extremely well camouflaged as I see the males doing the courtship flights, see the females flying back to the tree after feeding, but can not spot that little nest. I know exactly which tree (or think I do) and still can't find it. Anyone ever spot a nest?

 

[jojo54]

The Ana's stay with us all year but the rubythroats have left (They only Winter here) so maybe they're on their way to you.

Can you tell by my pics what kind I have? The pic with two birds - the brownish one looks bronze/gold in the sun - very striking. He is out "little king".

 

[beavis]

Actually, Ruby throated aren't in California. That is an East coast hummer and usually the ONLY hummer in the Eastern US.

San Diego County's most common hummingbird is the Anna's.

But we also can have

Rufous, Allen's, Costas's, Black-chinned, Calliope and very rarely the Broad-tailed.

Besides Southern California, you can also see an amazing number of hummingbird species in SE Arizona and SW New Mexico right near the border of Mexico where some very rare hummingbirds cross over the border which is their Northernmost extension of their range.

I have seen up to FOURTEEN species of hummers there including:

Violet-crowned
Lucifer
Broad-billed
White-eared
Blue throated
Magnificent
Plain-capped Starthroat
Black-chinned
Costas's
Anna's
Broad-tailed
calliope
Rufous
Allen's

I used to be a bird-watching guide in San Diego county, can you tell?

The arizona/New Mexico hummers are stunning to see, not only for their plumage but size. The Blue throated is nearly twice the size of a Rubythroat or Anna's.

 

[beavis]

The Ana's stay with us all year but the rubythroats have left (They only Winter here) so maybe they're on their way to you.

Can you tell by my pics what kind I have? The pic with two birds - the brownish one looks bronze/gold in the sun - very striking. He is out "little king".

Looks like the green one is either a male Calliope or an Anna's. The brownish one is a male Rufous Hummingbird.

 

[desertcat]

beavis, if you like big hummingbirds, you need to go waaay south to Peru and check out the ones they have in the Andes!

They aren't the most colorful, but those guys have like a 12-14" wingspan and sound really cool when they hover. Wish I could still find my pics of the one that buzzed me down there, but that was a long time and several moves ago.

 

[hoodat]

The Ana's stay with us all year but the rubythroats have left (They only Winter here) so maybe they're on their way to you.

Can you tell by my pics what kind I have? The pic with two birds - the brownish one looks bronze/gold in the sun - very striking. He is out "little king".

Looks like the green one is either a male Calliope or an Anna's. The brownish one is a male Rufous Hummingbird.

Which local one is it that resembles the ruby throat? I always thought that's what they were. The only one I can be sure of is the Anna's.