California sees many visiting hummingbirds during the warmer months. Hummingbird enthusiasts are greeted by at least thirteen different species. These thirteen are Allen’s, Anna’s, Black-chinned, Blue-throated, Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, Calliope, Costa’s, Green Violet-ear, Ruby-throated, Rufous, Violet-crowned, and Xantus’.
The Allen’s Hummingbird is one of the thirteen species common to California. Identifying this species is easier by looking at the male because it is more colorful than the female. To begin with, the male is a little smaller, usually weighing around 3.13g and has rufous shaded feathers that cover his flanks. He will also have iridescent feathers that are coppery-red covering his throat and the feathers on his head and back are metallic bronze-green. The females are somewhat larger, usually around 3.24g and are not as colorful as stated earlier. The female has rufous colored feathers covering their back and sides, they will have a white breast, a white with red spots throat and they have rounded t ail feathers that have white tips.
The Anna’s Hummingbird, with the male of the species weighing about 4.31g, is one of the largest hummingbirds that visits California. Size is not the only trait that can be used to identify this species of hummingbird, it also has color traits throughout its body, on both the male and female that can easily be used. The breast of the male is a gray color, while the breast of the female is a lighter color of gray. The throat of the male is dark rose-red and the female has a white throat with red spots. The male also has a metallic green back and its female will have a less bright, green back. The male’s crown matches it throat and the female’s tail feathers have white tips on them.
The Black-chinned Hummingbird is one of the species of hummingbirds where the female is more colorful than the male. The female, which weighs about 3.42g, has a white breast and throat. The throat has black spots on it. The female also has green feathers that cover its back and crown and buff feathers that have white tips that cover its sides. The male of this species, weighing about 3.009g, has black feathers covering its throat, with a purple throat band and a white collar. It also has green feathers that cover its back, crown and breast.
The Blue-throated Hummingbird is best known for its white stripes that can be seen above and below its eyes. This hummingbird is huge in relationship to many other hummingbirds. The male will weigh about 8.4g and the female will weigh about 6.8g. The male has bright blue feathers covering its throat, thus giving it the name, Blue-throated Hummingbird. It also has dark gray feathers that cover its breast and dark blue tail feather that are tipped in white along with green feathers that cover the back and crown. The female Blue-throated Hummingbird looks a lot like the male with its dark gray feathers covering its breast and its green feathers along its back and crown. It also has white tips on its tail feathers.
The Broad-billed Hummingbird is best known for the bright metallic feathers that cover the throat of the male. The male, which weighs around 3.72g, also has a bright orange-red bill with a black tip. These two characteristics make the male of this species easy to identify. It also has dark green feathers that cover its back, crown and breast. Unfortunately, the female is less colorful and is not as easy to identify, but she does have gray feathers that cover her throat and breast and white tips on her tail feathers. She will weigh about 3.4g, and has an orange-red bill.
The Broad-tailed Hummingbird, with males weighing around 3.16g and females weighing around 3.6g, are pretty much the average size for hummingbirds in California, heck, even in the United States, so identifying them by their size is not going to work. Fortunately, the male of this species makes a sound similar to a cricket when he flies, that makes him different from other hummingbird. These little birds can also be identified by their color. The male has metallic green feathers that completely cover their back and crown and they have white feathers that cover their breast. Rose-colored feathers cover their throats and they have tail feathers that are rounded. The female has feathers that are green, but not metallic green, that cover their back and crown. They have white feathers with black spots that cover the throat and rust colored feathers on their sides. The middle tail feathers are green and the outer tail feathers have a rust base, black middle and white tips.
The Calliope Hummingbird is one of the smaller hummingbirds to show up in California with males weighing approximately 2.5g and females weighing approximately 2.83g. While size can make a difference sometimes, it is not always a good indicator to use when attempting to identify a particular bird. To do this, it may be wiser to use size and the coloration of the bird. To determine if a hummingbird is a Calliope Hummingbird, first look at its back and crown, if they are metallic green, then look on down to its throat and see if it is white with purple feathers in it that look sorta like whiskers. If these colors and patterns are seen in a bird, and the size seem right, then it is probably a male Calliope Hummingbird. A female Calliope Hummingbird is identified much as the male, first by size, then by color. Look at the Back and crown, they should be green, but not as metallic green as a male. The female will also have a white throat, but will have dark streaks, not so much purple ones that look like whiskers as the male does. The female will also have buff colored feathers on its sides and the corners of its tail feathers will be tipped with white.
The Costa’s Hummingbird is another medium sized hummer, with males weighing around 3.05g and females weighing around 3.22g. The males of this species have metallic green feathers over their backs, violet feathers on the throats and crowns and green feathers on the breasts. The males also have “very long side throat feathers” that are green. The females of this species have green feathers on their backs, but they do not have the bright metallic green as the males do. They also have white feathers with black spots on their throats, buff feathers on their sides and their tail feathers have white tips.
The Green-violet Eared Hummingbirds are some of the larger hummingbirds in California weighing somewhere between 5 and 6g. These species are unlike most other species of hummingbirds in that there is very little difference between the color of the male and the color of the female. These hummingbirds get their name from the glittering, pale feathers with fringe that cover their throat and breast plus the violet triangle patch that extends from under their eye to their neck. They also have tail feathers that have a black band located close to the end with yellow-green tips. The male has black feet and a black bill and the female only has glittering green feathers on its throat. The female also has a duller breast with some bronzing.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a medium sized hummingbird, with males generally weighing approximately 3.1g. This hummingbird gets its name from the ruby red feathers that cover its throat. The female has white feathers covering its breast. The tails on the two sexes are as different as the color of their breasts, with the male’s being forked and the female’s being rounded with white tips. Both sexes of this hummingbird have emerald green feathers on their backs. The female also has a longer bill than its male counterpart does.
The Rufous Hummingbird is somewhat larger than the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, with the male weighing approximately 3.22g and the female weighing approximately 3.41g. This hummingbird gets its name from it predominant rufous color found on the male of this species’ back. The female has a green back and crown. Both sexes have white breasts, but the colors of their throats are different. The male has a bright orange-red throat and the female has a streaked throat.
The Violet-crowned Hummingbird is a larger species of hummingbird, with males weighing approximately 5.78g and females weighing 5.19g. The emerald green feathers on its back, the violet-blue feathers on its crown and a red bill with a dark tip identify the male of this species. The female of this same species is marked much the same as the female, but its colors tend to be somewhat duller.
One of the rarer hummingbird species sometimes observed in California is the Xantus’ Hummingbird. The male of this species has a white-patch of feathers located above and behind its eyes; it has brushed green feathers covering its body and has rufous feathers covering its belly. The female of this species has feathers on its forehead that are grayish-brown. This hummingbird also has a red bill and a dusky colored top.
