Male Anna’s Hummingbird
This little guy was the Dominant male in the Area.
One of the smallest species of birds on the planet, Humming Birds tend to get overlooked due to their small size and exceptional speed. Yet if you take a moment to look and study their lives you start to see how they are little gems figuratively and visually. I was first introduced to hummingbirds from my dads photographs and the fleeting glimpse of one perched on one of the feeders littering my backyard. But when I had to write a 20 page paper on these little guys for Zoology class, I really started to fall in love with them.
After weeks of thinking about what animal to choose for my ethology project, I was sitting in my back yard when two Humming birds came screaming over my head spinning around one another. For the next hour or so I saw multiple hummingbirds all vying for dominance over the main humming bird feeder in my backyard. It was in that moment I decided to focus my project on these little bundles of avian fury.
So after deciding to focus my paper on the behavior of these humming birds, I had to research and figure out what specific species were responsible for the Top Gun style tower buzz over my head. Taking into account that it was fall and their red necks and head, it became clear that the species I was dealing with was the Anna’s Hummingbird. These little guys have an interesting approach to limiting competition with other species as they breed during fall and winter as opposed to summer which most other hummingbird species tend to prefer. This allows them to have their pick of resources, and only have to compete with other Anna’s. They have been found as far north as Alaska and can survive in freezing snowy conditions. There are some really amazing photos of these little beauties in snow, you should google it, its amazing to see.
Adult Male Anna's About to Take off and Chase another Competing Bird.
While they like to limit their inter-species competition, they are not afraid to roll their sleeves up and have a good scrap. A behavior that I witnessed numerous times while studying them. The dominant male that is seen in the photos in this page, would perch himself ontop of a willow tree in the center of my back yard and would watch over his territory with a keen eye. It seemed however he never had enough time to relax as every 30 seconds or so he would have to chase off intruding juvenile males looking to stake a claim over the area.
Resources such as flowers and feeders are vital for a hummingbirds survival and is worth risking life and limb to defend. The nectar and sugary liquid found in these sources of food are rich in much needed energy since every aspect of a hummingbirds metabolism is set to 11 . For a 200 lb man to consume the equivalent amount of energy that a Anna’s hummingbird needs just to survive, they would need to drink 1250 cokes a day. Its this amount of energy that allows their hearts to beat at over 1256 beats per minuet, and they take up to 250 breaths a minuet while at rest. Knowing this you can start to see why the Anna’s defends its resources so vehemently.
Its not uncommon for to see Anna’s stabbing one another with their beaks in order to harm and in rare instances kill one another over access to these vital resources. A rather sneakier approach that comes from the juveniles and females, to avoid physical harm, is they team up with one another and take turns distracting the dominant individual while the other sneaks a vital sip of nectar. This specific behavior I saw on many accounts, when in one instance a group of 4 juvenile Anna’s swarm the dominant male and one by one would break off to feed from the feeder. I had too whisper under my breath “clever buggers” while watching the scene unfold.
Adult Male Anna's Hummingbird Basking in the Early Morning Sun.
After hours and hours of watching these beautiful birds, I grew rather fond of them. Now everywhere I go if I hear their distinct “Zzzzt chica chica” call I beam ear to ear, because I know one of the more fascinating displays of behavioral dynamics is being played out hidden in plain sight. And when I see a pair chasing one another around the skies I am just glad these little hot heads are only four inches tall and not the size of eagles, for we would all be screwed.