Costa's Hummingbird

I thought he was injured at first.

This Costa's Hummingbird looks to be wearing a gray mask. I imagined him flying into a window, smashing his face and breaking his bill.

It didn't happen that way. Not this time anyway.

Unfortunately, hundreds of millions of birds* die every year just like that.

Windows are an especial threat to birds. They can't imagine glass. But cars, cats, and a loss of habitat are just as threatening.

Picture for a moment the millions of miles of utility wires that criss-cross America. Harmless enough in the daylight, but deadly on a night migration.

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 174 million** birds die each year by flying into these wires.

Our bird is okay, however. Instead of injury, he is going through a molt. All birds do that once or twice a year.

The gray mask you see are the new feathers' protective sheathes. Inside are the purple feathers that give the Costa's Hummingbird its unique helmeted look. 
 
He's quite capable of flying, feeding, and defending his territory.

And, when his molt is complete, imagine him looking pretty spectacular for this spring's mating season.

Allan

Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

* https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/07/us/ap-us-bird-friendly-glass.html?searchResultPosition=5

** https://thinkprogress.org/no-wonder-theyre-angry-13-7-million-birds-are-dying-every-day-in-the-u-s-8a73dc6af459/
 

Arizona Birds in Snow

I know!

Posting birds in SNOW in late February is going to prompt yawns and scorn from Wisconsinites, but these are DESERT birds not normally seen in snow.

A male Pyrrhuloxia (aka desert cardinal) cracks down on a newly uncovered seed.

It snows at the higher elevations in Arizona during a normal winter, but this low-down snow blanketed our house at just under 3000 feet. Snow is expected at 5000-8000'... not often at 3000'.

The birds didn't seem to mind though. They went about searching and scratching as they usually do, not affected by the weather.

A female Pyrrhuloxia poses in knee-deep snow (if birds had knees, that is) having no trouble uncovering food.

A male House Finch presents a peanut to his mate. In the early morning 20 degrees, it is quickly accepted.

Birds adapt well to large swings in temperatures. Their back is covered in multiple layers of feathers to trap warm air. Combined with a downy underbelly they manage quite nicely.

You often see birds in colder weather fluffed-up, looking larger than you'd expect. This extra bulking up maintains warmth for a desert existence.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

A juvenile Costa's Hummingbird searches an emu bush for any flowers not yet covered in snow. He was finding some, but he was working ten times as hard to find his early morning meal.

A Verdin, on the same emu bush, looks for aphids, scale and larvae attached to the branches.

A White-crowned Sparrow waits his turn at the feeder while closely watching for raptors.

I only have seed eating-birds to show you today, but there are many other desert birds. Where seed-eating birds congregate, a raptor, like a Cooper's Hawk, is always a possibility.

The pecking order at the food site is determined mainly by size or other physical attributes. Birds of equal proportions get along grudgingly.

Still, the largest weapons almost always prevail.

The Canyon Towhee (sparrow family) sports a necklace of brown spots and a central dark spot. Canyon Towhee are a common southwestern desert bird and a typical ground feeder.

A buff crown with a similar under-tail are the main distinguishing marks.

A female Northern Cardinal (southwestern) with her crest up is excited about something... snow?

This male Northern Cardinal (southwestern), also with his crest up, seems to take exception to the likes of a Mourning Dove.

These two are close in size and strength, so starting a fight over who has the right to do what and with which and to whom is muted.

Snow in Arizona is exceptional. It's especially enjoyable knowing it will be a short lived event.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds

Hummingbirds

The natural hummingbird food sources are running low at this time of the year. If your flowers haven't experienced a frost so far, more than likely, frost is on the way soon.

This Broad-billed Hummingbird inspects every flower and moves on quickly, so I believe he's getting very little nectar for his efforts.

He gleams in the rare afternoon overcast of Oro Valley, Arizona.

If you already have hummingbirds or would like to attract them, now is a good time to supplement their dwindling food supply. 

If you start a hummingbird feeding program, please continue it until spring when their natural food returns.

The recipe is simple. 4 cups of water to 1 cup plain white sugar... heat, stir, cool and fill the feeder of your choice.

Place the feeder near a window for your enjoyment. They'll usually return every 10 minutes for a drink. If you have more than one hummingbird, they appear in rotation.

Just be aware hummingbirds are notorious squabblers. They get very defensive of their food sources.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

This Costa's Hummingbird is one of three species of hummingbirds we get here. Different locations get different species. Arizona boasts of 15 different hummingbird species throughout the State.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Hummingbirds

It's not all peace and love in this Arizona winter garden. The decreasing blossoms are coveted by a steadily increasing number of hungry hummingbirds.

The remaining flowers are violently fought over, all be it on a minute scale.

For such a tiny bird, hummingbirds have an oversized appetite for fighting.

They will even take on a bird a hundred times their size. This Cooper's Hawk gets an escort while only passing through this Anna's Hummingbird's territory.

There isn't a hint of hawk anxiety or thoughts of changing course. The hummingbird's nerve is commendable.

Confronting intruders with your head on fire is this Costa's preferred offense. Most times it works. They are colorful, quick and oh so agile.

If flowers are worth fighting over and that seems to be so, the hummingbirds have staked out their claim on this garden.

It likely to get harder and harder to defend though, as winter in Arizona marches on.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Costa's & Anna's Hummingbirds

On a chilly day for most of the USA, here are two jewels in the sunshine for your pleasure.
A Costa's Hummingbird gathers nectar from the last of the remaining Sonoran Desert flowers.

His radiance isn't a reflection of the flowers he's visiting. Purple iridescence is only visible when sunlight hits at a perfect angle. As he visits each flower his head intermittently lights up.

Purple 'gorgets' (gor-jets) are his trademark.  He uses them to attract females.

For a Costa's male it's the equivalent of a long mustache.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

The slightly larger Anna's Hummingbird also lives in this desert.

The two species don't get along, as is typical with rivals. They are in a constant battle for territory and resources.

What we perceive as elegance in these birds is more likely aggression.

It matters little to me.

I prefer to enjoy only their brilliance on a chilly day.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Hummingbird Wars

At warp speed, hummingbirds do battle daily...Star Wars on the smallest scale.

A male Anna's Hummingbird watches from his treetop perch. He claims ownership of our backyard as his territory and he watches over it closely.

He doesn't like trespassers.

He scans the comings and goings of other hummingbirds who stop or pass too slowly, persuading them to leave before they get hurt.

His weapons are a swordlike bill and an awesome-hot helmut.

He controls his territory with all-out frontal attacks and a take no prisoners attitude.

This Broad-billed Hummingbird was one bird who lingered too long.

He received a high speed escort to anywhere else but here.

In this case the tresspasser escaped to a tree in the front yard, well away from the food at the backyard.

His only retort to this rude treatment was delivered after the fact.

This Costa's Hummingbird was similarly encouraged to leave, but the odds were more even here. The Costa's Hummingbird is capable of standing his ground against the Anna's Hummingbird, resulting in a begrudging agreement to share opposite sides of the feeder.

He's similarly adorned with an fabulous purple helmut and long gorgets, adding a dash of flare and fierceness to his look.

This first-year male Anna's Hummingbird doesn't stand a chance against the older male of his own kind. He takes flight at first sight of an attack.

He is just now sprouting the weapons he needs to defend a territory and attract a female.

Defending a territory takes a lot of energy...nectar.

Plain sugar water provides energy in a 4 to 1 ratio.

Even though I provide plenty of nectar, there seems to be a natural aversion to sharing this wealth of food.

It's a winner takes all world and the strong survive.

Aggression seems so unnecessary to an outsider, but nature plays by its own rules.

As the undisputed master of arial acrobatics, hummingbirds enforce their rules. Weighing in at only a nickel's weight, they maintain the smallest of no-fly zones. With landing gear extended, the male Anna's flutters into the treetop to resume the watch for challengers...whether real or imagined.

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds