© by Iryna Dronova

Other names: Annakolibri German; El colibrí de Ana Spanish; Le Colibri d'Anna French

These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue. They also consume small insects caught in flight. A PBS documentary that first aired January 10, 2010 shows how Anna's Hummingbirds eat flying insects. They aim for the flying insect, then open their beaks very wide. That technique has a greater success rate than trying to aim the end of a long beak at the insect would have.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

- In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna's Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range.

- The dive display of the Anna's Hummingbird lasts about 12 seconds, and the male may fly to a height of 40 m (131 feet) during the display. He starts by hovering two to four meters (6-13 feet) in front of the display object (hummingbird or person), and then climbs in a wavering fashion straight up. He plummets in a near-vertical dive from the top of the climb and ends with an explosive squeak within half a meter of the display object. He then makes a circular arc back to the point where he began. On sunny days the dives are oriented so that the sun is reflected from the iridescent throat and crown directly at the object of the dive.

- On rare occasions, bees and wasps may become impaled on the bill of an Anna's Hummingbird, causing the bird to starve to death.

Source: www.allaboutbirds.org

A while ago I already posted some amazing facts about Anna's Hummingbirds:

http://globalbirdtrekkers.org/content/view/475/41/

Iryna send me some more information abot the photo:

" I took this photo in the residential area in east Oakland, California using Nikon D80 camera and Tamron 200-500 mm telephoto AF lens for Nikon. The location is basically the area where a few residential backyards are divided by a small stream that has cattails in it and some large trees and shrubs nearby. For the last couple of weeks different species of hummingbirds (Anna's, Rufous and possibly some other) have been picking up cattail tufts, which should indicate that the nesting season is in progress."

Great capture and thanx again for your permission to post this photo.