Anna’s Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird on a Pepper Tree branch.

A Hummingbird tongue: “…the tongue works as an elastic micropump. “Fluid at the tip is driven into the tongue’s grooves by forces resulting from re-expansion of a collapsed section” of the tongue closer to the mouth.” Live Science Hummingbird Tongue

Anna’s Hummingbird during a rain storm – sitting on an Agave spine.

The Feather Files
Name: Anna’s Hummingbird
Species: Calypte anna
Native to and Migration: These hummingbirds live exclusively in the Western United States, North Western Mexico and coastal South Western Canada. They either don’t migrate or else migrate a very short distance to better feeding grounds.
Date Seen: February 20, 2019
Location: North of Fountain Hills, Arizona

Notes: These hummingbirds were feeding on the nectar of the red flowers of the Valentine bush (Eremophila Maculata Valentine or Emu Bush). When not feeding or diving, they would sit on the branches of our Pepper Tree or an Agave.