February: A Costa's Kind of Month

The month of February this year is not only a Leap Year month with 29 days, but it has proven to be a great month for me in observing one of the my favorite hummingbirds; the Costa's Hummingbird.  When the desert receives some proper rainfall, the Wolfberry (Lycium andersonii) bushes come to life and start blooming. This shrub in bloom is a favorite of hummingbirds with the small lavender blossoms and when they set fruit and it ripens, many other species of birds feed on the berries when they ripen.  This winter has been fairly decent in the rainfall department, so it has been fun observing the Anna's and Costa's Hummingbirds fight over feeding rights and defending their territories.  These mornings have allowed me to get some fun photos of the Costa's Hummingbirds and a few of the Anna's as well. Below are 3 photos of Costa's males and 3 photos of Costa's females, followed by 2 photos each of Anna's males and females.

Costa's Hummingbird - Male

Sipping nectar from Wolfberry blossoms.

Costa's Hummingbird - Female

Anna's Hummingbird - Male

Anna's Hummingbird - Female

Hummingbirds have kind of been the stars of the show for the month, but they are most definitely the only interesting and great birds that were observed.  The one regular Western Screech-Owl that I had been monitoring, turned into two after discovering a second one in a second cavity.  

Western Screech-Owl - Number 1

Number 2

One of the biggest highlights for me in February was getting a new yard bird.  Glanced up in my neighbor's tree to see a small falcon and at first glance, thought it was just an American Kestrel, which I see almost yearly in the neighborhood.  But its posture looked a little odd, so I hurried into the house to grab my binoculars and took a second look and WOW!  It was a Merlin!  This is a male and it is the 'Prairie' subspecies (richardsonii).  What a great bird to add to my yard list.

Merlin - Male

A trip out west of the Phoenix metro area with 3 birding friends allowed me to get some photos of some really good birds that presented themselves well enough to capture a few photos.  Bell's Sparrow can sometimes be a bit difficult to to find and identify in the winter due to the fact that we have many more Sagebrush Sparrows and the 2 are not always easy to distinguish one from the other.  Plus, I have never really gotten very good photos of Bell's Sparrow.  LeConte's Thrasher.  What can I say about this bird, except that it is one of the most sought after birds in Maricopa County?  And who doesn't like Long-billed Curlews?  When a flock flies over, you start clicking away. 

 Bell's Sparrow

 LeConte's Thrasher

 Long-billed Curlew

A trip to southeastern Arizona gave me a chance to photograph a Mexican Duck and this post is the first time that I have included it in one of of blog posts since it is now considered a separate species according to Clements list of birds of the world.  Hepatic Tanagers and two species of titmouse are nice additions for the month.

 Mexican Duck

Hepatic Tanager

 Bridled Titmouse 

Juniper Titmouse

And finally a few of the desert regulars that I have had the pleasure of seeing in February.

 Gambel's Quail - Female

 Cactus Wren

Verdin

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Male in breeding plumage

Greater Roadrunner

With the milder weather in February a few butterflies are starting to make an appearance.  Got to see my first Painted Lady on the first of the month and some lovely Lupine Blues on the fifteenth.  

Painted lady

 Lupine Blue

 Lupine Blue

The month of February was a month of enjoying our fine feathered friends in the Sonoran Desert.  Spring migration is just around the corner.

Winter Hummingbirds in Arizona

While reviewing my photos from this last fall, I found that I had forgotten about some of the photos of hummingbirds that I took and decided a blog post might be in order to show some of the various stages of what some of these marvelous little birds can look like at other times of the year.  It is uncommon that one will see the various plumage variances in field guides and on apps.  Field guides do not always show the various stage of plumage molt and lighting plays a big factor in seeing the iridescence that is depicted in field guides or apps.

Here in the Phoenix area, we have 2 species that can be found as year-round residents; the very common Anna's Hummingbird and the stunning Costa's Hummingbird.  Anna's are by far the most common, but Costa's can be reliably found in the right habitats.  We do have the occasional rarities in the winter as well.  We have had records of Broad-billed, Rufous, Calliope, and most recently a Broad-tailed Hummingbird that has spent winter in the Phoenix area.  

At the beginning of each species, I have included a brief note as to how these 2 species got their names that will hopefully give you a bit of insight on the background of the names of these  hummingbirds.  Now, let's move on to some photos of them that will show how different they can appear.  Lighting plays a lot in how we see them.  The males have bright and colorful gorgets, but only when the light is refracted off of them.  Many times, all we see is what appears to be a black gorget.  When an immature male begins to molt into adult plumage, there is frequently a sprinkling of  the iridescence that we can sometime see.  With females, there is not as much of a noticeable difference.

Anna's Hummingbird 

 Anna's Hummingbird was named after Anna Masséna, Princess d'Essling, Duchess of Rivoli, who was the wife of Prince Victor Masséna, the Duke of Rivoli.  And if you saw the connection to the name of Rivoli's Hummingbird, then you are correct.  Rivoli's Hummingbird got its name from the Duke of Rivoli and the Anna's Hummingbird was named after his wife. 

 Adult male - Note the light refracting off the crown and left side of throat appear to be goldish/green.

 Adult male, but note the red behind the eye and the rest of the gorget and head appear black.

 Back looks green in this photo, but note the next photo.

 The back appears gold in this photo.  All a part of lighting and a good reason to not depend on color all the time for identifying birds.

 Female

 Female

 Female

Adult male

 Immature male just beginning to molt.

Same bird as preceding photo, but a different angle.

 Immature male, note the magenta colored feathers which is a part of the molting process.

Same bird as preceding photo, different angle.

 Immature male, still has a way to to go on its molt.

Costa's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird was named after Louis Marie Panteleon Costa, Marquis de Beau-Regard, who was a Sardinian aristocrat and an accomplished amateur ornithologist. 

 In this photo gorget appears black.

 In this photo, most of the gorget appears black, but note the purple on the tips of the gorget.

 An immature male in molt.

 The same immature male as above.

 Another immature male, and below is the same bird but a different angle.

Rufous Hummingbird

Just this past week I had the pleasure of hosting a Rufous Hummingbird in my back yard for 4 days.  It arrived before the first day of spring so technically it visited my yard in the winter.  This species is a long distance migrant, wintering in southwestern Mexico and breeding in the Pacific Northwest and all the way through British Columbia and even Alaska.  They migrate approximately 2500 miles twice a year.  Pretty remarkable for such a tiny bird!  Twice before, I had a Rufous Humingbird visit my yard and both visits were in August on their way south and both birds were one-day wonders in my yard and my feeders.  This was the first spring migrant that I had and she decided to stay for 4 days!  They are notoriously feisty, and she was no exception.  She quickly took charge of my back yard and the resident Anna's did not know how to respond.  It was quite enjoyable to watch one for a longer period of time than normal.

If you love hummingbirds and you live in Arizona, you have a lot of opportunities to see several species.  And if you have a home, putting out hummingbird feeders is a great way to attract them to your yard.  Even apartment dwellers can get them to visit a feeder on a balcony.  They are remarkable little birds with a lot of energy and personality.