anna's HUMMINGBIRD (Calypte anna)
Any hummingbird in Montana in late fall or winter is likely to be this species. Anna’s Hummingbirds formerly occurred only on the Pacific slope of California and n. Baja California, but they began appearing in Oregon, Washington, and s. British Columbia in the 1940s and are now year-round residents there (Zimmerman 1973, Contreras 1999, Scarfe and Finlay 2001). Soon after they spread northward to the Pacific Northwest, nonbreeders began showing up in fall at inland localities such as Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. By the late 1980s they had been documented as far away as Minnesota, Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida (Russell 1996), and by 2000 they had been found in almost every state outside their original breeding range. Extensive plantings of nonnative trees and shrubs, and the increased use of hummingbird feeders, must have played a role in the species’ range expansion, and it is tempting to speculate that global warming has been a factor as well. Anna’s Hummingbirds breed from sw. British Columbia, w. Washington, and w. Oregon south through California, w. Nevada, and sw. Utah to Arizona and n. Baja California and winter throughout the breeding range south to Sonora and east to w. Texas. They are well known for initiating nests in midwinter in the Pacific Northwest, when temperatures regularly drop below freezing.
Status and Occurrence: Occasional transient and rare winter resident, with about 30 records. Almost all sightings have been from Sep through Dec, and all but seven were west of the Continental Divide, including seven records in the Bitterroot Valley and others at Missoula, Huson, Arlee, Lakeside, Somers, Kalispell, and Columbia Falls. The state’s first record was a juvenile male that was picked up on the University of Montana campus at Missoula by Harry Reynolds on 16 Nov 1969 and died shortly thereafter (UMZM 14077). A female that appeared at a feeder in Missoula in late Oct 1975 was taken into captivity and flown to California, where it was released in good condition (Wright 1996). Another found at Clinton in Nov 1989 was put on a plane to California but died en route (Wright 1996). An adult female that was taken into captivity at Helena on 21 Nov 1993 was not transported to California, contrary to Wright (1996: 71). It died in Helena, providing the state’s second specimen (UMZM 18908). The first sighting from east of the divide was by Jean Perkins at Bozeman on 1 Sep 1976. It was seen by several observers, including P. D. Skaar, through 12 Sep. Records from well east of the divide were a juvenile male seen by Shawn Stewart, Jon Swenson, and Tom Komberec at Red Lodge on 9 Sep 2007 (MBRC 2007-056) and a female-type that was photographed by Chuck Carlson at Fort Peck on 11 Oct 2010 (MBRC 2011-006). The first winter record was a bird seen by many observers at the home of Pam Garvin in Billings from Sep 1982 to 23 Jan 1983, including the CBC on 18 Dec. The only other winter records were a female-type (i.e., adult female or juvenile male) and an adult male present at the home of Susan and Gordon Scaggs in Missoula from late Aug to 30 Dec 2001, including the CBC on 15 Dec (MBRC 2002-048). The female-type disappeared on 30 Dec, and the male was taken into captivity on 24 Feb 2002, near death, and released on 20 Apr (G. Scaggs, pers. comm.). The two summer records were an adult male seen at Columbia Falls by Paul Rossi on 2 Jun 1996 (MBRC 1996-031) and a juvenile male banded by Ned and Gigi Batchelder near Wolf Creek on 22 Jul 2005 (MBRC 2007-056; see below).
Habitat: Anna’s Hummingbirds historically inhabited chaparral and oak woodlands in California (Russell 1996), but when they colonized the Pacific Northwest they nested mostly in suburban and urban habitats that provided a variety of exotic flowering trees and shrubs and an abundance of feeders. Every Anna’s seen in Montana has attended one or more feeders at a residential yard or guest ranch. The species is well known for living in towns and cities, including metropolitan Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.
Conservation: Given its close association with urban and suburban habitats, the Anna’s Hummingbird is not a species of conservation concern. BBS data indicate that numbers increased significantly by 1.7% per year in the U.S. part of the breeding range from 1966-2009. The global population estimate is 1.5 million birds (Rich et al. 2004).
Many people believe that if hummingbird feeders are not taken down in late summer, the birds will continue to use them beyond the date when they would normally migrate south. Yet, all of the evidence shows that the timing of hummingbird migration is unaffected by the availability of feeders (Williamson 2001: 29, 36). In the case of the Anna’s Hummingbird, we would have little knowledge of its occurrence in the state without the presence of hummingbird feeders well after breeding species have headed south. Indeed, rather than cause some Anna’s to linger where they should not be, feeders have allowed them to survive much longer than they would have under natural circumstances. Even when feeders are available indefinitely, the birds seldom (if ever) can survive an entire Montana winter. Most attempts to transport wayward Anna’s Hummingbirds to warmer climes, or to take them into captivity for the winter, are illegal and hopefully have come to an end.
Contemporary Work: None.
Banded Birds: The Batchelders banded five Anna’s Hummingbirds in 10 years: an adult male at Missoula on 2 Nov 2001, a juvenile male at the Blacktail Ranch near Wolf Creek on 22 Jul 2005, and adult females near Huson on 13 Oct 2007 and near Hamilton on 20 Oct 2008 and 10 Oct 2009. None was re-encountered.
Sponsored by Susan and Gordon Scaggs, Missoula
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