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A Winter Home of the Anna Hummingbird

Authors
C. I. Clay
Journal
Condor
Volume
15
Issue
5 (September-October)
Year
1913
Pages
184
Section
From Field and Study
Online Text

A Winter Home of the Anna Hummingbird

I often wonder why so many of us neglect to send in notes which we must realize are of particular interest to others. In the May number of THE CONDOR, I note the enthusiasm Mrs. Charlotte M. Wilder shows upon noting the appearance almost daily, of an Anna Hummingbird in her garden at Ferndale, Humboldt County, California.

This beautiful hummer is a regular winter resident in Humboldt County. Its first appearance is about the 20th of August. From that date on until February or March the Anna Hummingbird (Calypte anna) can be seen about various flower gardens, hovering over the brighter flowers or sitting at rest under the leaves of a bush in the shade, very seldom in the sunshine.

On September 8, 1910, I took from the lower branches of a mock orange bush in Eureka a specimen of the Anna Hummingbird. It was an adult, and dissection proved it to be a male bird. Several days after, another of these birds took up residence in the garden, remaining through the winter.

Seldom have I seen two of these birds remain in the same garden at one time. The Allen Hummingbird (Selasphorus alleni) can usuallv be seen about the same flowers in close proximity with C. anna.

C. I. CLAY

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