Costa's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird, adult male; Imperial Co., CA; July

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Costa's Hummingbird, adult female, at the nest (in Cholla cactus); Imperial Co., CA; April

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Conservation Status
9. Other Names

A desert hummingbird, Costa's Hummingbird breeds in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of California and Arizona. It departs the desert in the hottest days of summer, moving to chaparral, scrub, or woodland habitat.

Cool Facts

• Researchers have found that Costa's Hummingbird can enter a torpid state, with slowed heart rates and reduced body temperatures, under low ambient nighttime temperatures. The hearts of torpid Costa's Hummingbirds beat about 50 times per minute, while those of nontorpid resting Costa's Hummingbirds beat 500 to 900 times per minute.

Description

• Size: 9 cm (4 in)
• Wingspan: 11 cm (4 in)
• Weight: 2-3 g (0.07-0.11 ounces)

Small hummingbird. Green upperparts. Male has iridescent violet crown and gorget (throat patch). Gorget extends out sides of throat. Female has white throat and underparts, sometimes with some violet feathers.

Sex Differences

Male has violet crown and throat; female has green crown and white throat.

Immature

Resembles adult female, with gray-buff edging on feathers of upperparts, and a doubly-rounded tail instead of singly-rounded.

Similar Species

• Female and immature Anna's Hummingbird have red feathers in center of throat.
• Female and immature Black-chinned Hummingbird have buff tinge on flanks.

Sound

Male gives a high, thin whistle from perches and during display flights.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southern California and Arizona. Also breeds in Baja California and western Mexico.

Winter Range

Found in some portions of breeding range year-round. Timing and directions of movements vary with local populations.

Habitat

Desert and semi-desert, arid brushy foothills and chaparral, in migration and winter also in adjacent mountains and in open meadows and gardens.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Loss of habitat, especially coastal scrub and Sonoran desert scrub, pose the most serious threat to the species. Availability of feeders may have a compensating effect, to an undetermined degree.

Other Names

Colibri de Costa (French)
Colibrí de Costa (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Baltosser, W. H., and P. E. Scott. 1996. Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae). In The Birds of North America, No. 251 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.