The Hummingbirds of Southern California

Although not really a hummingbird haven like southeast Arizona, southern California still hosts six species of the Trochilidae family. 

The most common is the Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), which can be seen even in urban gardens. As in all of the these species, the male is the one that has the more colorful gorget, especially given the proper light and angle. Male Anna's have an iridescent magenta or reddish pink crown and gorget. By the way, it's name was derived from Anna Massena, duchess of Rivoli, by Rene Lesson, an 18th century French Ornithologist and Herpetologist.

Arguably just as common as the Anna's is the Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) which can also be easily seen in parks. It is generally rufous in color, the male having an orange-red gorget. It's forehead and back has a green color. The name commemorates Charles Andrew Allen, a collector and taxidermist of the early 19th century. 

Similar looking and often confused with the Allen's is the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). The male Rufous can be best distinguished from the Allens, by having a lesser amount of green on the crown and back. Rufous Hummingbirds are also migratory and can be more commonly seen in Southern California in spring.

Another migrant, seen only during the summer months is the less colorful Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). It's dark chin becomes iridescent deep purple at the right amount and angle of light.

The following two species are less common than the previous four. It was just sheer luck that I was able to photograph both at the Eaton Canyon Park in Pasadena not far from where I used to live. 

The Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a resident of arid and semi-arid regions of California and Arizona. However, in summer, it seeks shelter from the heat and inhabits chaparral and woodlands. It is similar to Anna's in terms of the color of the male's throat. However, the Costa's gorget extends out to the sides.

The smallest bird in North America is the Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope). It is also a migrant and can be seen in southern California during its spring and autumn passage.The male has wine-red streaks on its throat instead of the usual gorget.

Information derived from wikipedia and allaboutbirds.org

From the Ocean to the Canyon

It rained the whole day Friday and cooled the weather somewhat drastically. Because of this, we woke up late on Saturday morning. The sun was shining brightly so given the lateness of the morning, we decided to go Bolsa Chica. I wanted to see shorebirds and waterbirds donning their much more colorful breeding plumages, spring being the season that they do so.

But when we got there, we saw more people than birds! It so happened that the local community were cleaning up the area in preparation for Earth Day on Sunday. We had no choice but to restrict ourselves to the boardwalk where the only birds present were terns flying overhead. And so we practiced getting flight shots which was not easy at all. The morning was saved when a Savannah Sparrow landed a few feet away from me and stayed there long enough for me to get Cynthia's attention away from the terns. A short walk later we encountered some Western Grebes and Ruddy Ducks (the only ducks left, it seemed). We took some half-hearted shots of the grebes and decided to say goodbye to Bolsa Chica.

After a quick bite at Jack-in-the-Box we returned to Eaton Canyon once again hoping to get more (and maybe better) shots of the warblers and hummingbirds. At the place where we saw the Calliopes, we came upon Jimmy Chen, a wonderful bird photographer, whom we have met before. He was shooting the Calliopes which were feeding on the white flowers. We joined in and in the course of our conversation, I asked if he has seen the Costa's Hummingbird which was also reported in the area. "Oh, they're there right behind the Nature Center." he said as if these hummers were the commonest bird in the canyon. We've been in that section three times last week but not once did we even get a glimpse of the Costa's. So, we thanked him, bade goodbye and went the opposite way from his prescribed place.

After many minutes of fruitless meanderings, we finally went to the back of the Nature Center. Jimmy was there sitting on a bench and talking shop with Kevin Kao, another bird photographer that I met here last Wednesday. As I was waving hello to them, Jimmy suddenly yelled, "There it is! There it is!" pointing to a tiny bird perched on a small branch just behind me and Cynthia. Just to be very sure, I looked at the bird through my binoculars and noticed the bright pink gorget that covered its whole head - telltale sign that it was indeed a Costas. Another very cooperative lifer for me as we (all four of us) spent probably close to an hour shooting at this magnificent creature all the while oohing and aahing as the gorget shone and sparkled everytime the sunlight hits it.

That certainly made up for the disappointing time we had at Bolsa Chica.