You know that startled feeling you get when a bee buzzes right past your ear or a mosquito appears out of nowhere and hums its gonna-getcha song before it lays in for the puncture? Those sounds can make you swat madly at the air, shake your head violently, and duck and cover with futility. Last week, as I hunched over the backyard garden beds digging out Japanese clover and the random tarragon that reseeded, I nearly jumped out of my skin from a loud vibration and whirring near my head. But contrary to the “yikes” feeling an insect stirs in me, this little engine sound delighted me. It came from an Anna’s hummingbird.
I watched it go straight for the bee balm to investigate and drink from the long red, arched petals. Hummingbird bills are unique in their length and shape, and depending on the species, have adapted to drink nectar from specific flowers. West of the Cascade Range we see hummers go for whatever is around in the spring, including rosemary blossoms and even arthropods, to one of their favorites later in spring and summer, fuchsias. All hummingbirds have long tongues that extrude far beyond the bill, and that extension is controlled by small bones and muscles that fork and wrap around the back of the skull.
The Anna’s is one that you will likely see in your park or neighborhood because it resides year-round all along the west coast of the United States. At about four inches long with a five-and-a-quarter inch wing span, it is one of the larger species of hummingbirds here in North America.
The males are quite distinguishable: catch them in the right angle of light and you will see their heads fully hooded in brilliant, iridescent, fuchsia-colored feathers. The females are just about all green on the back from their heads down to the center part of their broad tails. You will notice a reddish-pink patch on their throats and grayish speckles up their cheeks.
Hummingbird plumage in general is quite striking on account of the structure of the feathers. The barbules, which come off the barb or main “stem” of the feather, are raised three-dimensionally, forming V-shaped valleys. This, and in very simple terms, with the precise positioning of light reflection off the microscopic air bubbles on the feathers’ surface, creates the iridescent sheen.
I stopped weeding and observed this male Anna’s going from flower to flower. He moved away and hovered about three feet away from me. I crouched in a still position and he continued to hover. He then rose about six inches where he was blocked from my view by the top rail of our steel mesh fence. I rose about six inches and as soon as we made eye contact he dropped down, out of my line of vision again. This up-down game continued for less than a minute but it demonstrated to me just how savvy of their surroundings these little guys are.
I have been buzzed before by hummingbirds and I have been the object of their dry, squeaky, repetitive scolding calls, but I have never played this game of hide and seek with them before now. Usually I observe them chasing other hummers away from the nectar feeder as they dive in long elliptical patterns, then hover, calling out their “tewk” warnings with bravado.
My meeting with the male Anna’s hummingbird ended when he flew into the neighbor’s apple tree. He had a better view of me than I of him. Once I located his perch, he buzzed off toward another yard. In the meantime, I’ll keep the bee balm growing tall and hope for another enchanting encounter with these magnificent and fierce trochilidae.
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