Species in Focus: Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

A zippy whistling sound greets my ears at roughly 7:35 AM on a cold winter day in the Pacific Northwest. Though the sun has barely risen over the Cascade Mountains, tiny hummingbird tongues are searching for sweet drops of nectar on Whidbey Island.

While spending the winter on Whidbey Island in 2022 and 2023, I experienced the effects of increased numbers of Anna's Hummingbirds firsthand. One of my jobs was to make sure the neighbor cats stayed away from hummingbirds frozen in torpor. Keeping the feeders full for these birds can become a stressful job for residents of the island when the temperature drops. The birds empty the feeders quickly, and they must be kept warm in order to prevent hummingbirds from getting frozen to the feeder itself. It's a high-stress existence for both parties. This is an increasingly common phenomenon, as Anna's Hummingbirds are moving north and resident populations are growing steadily in Washington state. 

There are other species of hummingbirds in Washington that may compete with Anna's Hummingbirds. While working at a parrot sanctuary on the south of the island in late spring, I once found a deceased Rufous Hummingbird in the middle of the aviary floor. This migratory species visited our feeder as well, but in much fewer numbers. They directly compete with Anna's for breeding habitat on Whidbey Island in the summer. As for feeding, the island provides supplemental nectaring stations as well as artificially planted or naturally growing flowers. The Rufous historically bred in western Washington, whereas the Anna's Hummingbird was primarily restricted to breeding in California prior to range expansion. Now, the Anna's is a full-time resident of Washington, taking up a lot of space in the ecosystem as well as in the hearts of locals.