A Nature's wonder

I remember when I started my bird photography few years back, I used to watch the shots of the hummingbirds in flight and always wondered how the photographers capture these tiny birds. It was one of my wildest wish to capture these colorful jewels but I knew it would be a long journey of learning and opportunity.

During mid 2015, I got an opportunity to visit California in the States. While bird watching around the place where I used to stay, I heard a bird's call, it was more like a few buzzes, then a whistle and chipping. Initially I could not see it and it just flew past my ear. But then one day I saw it, wonder of nature and such a colorful beauty. Seeing it felt like my dream come true, yes it was an Anna’s Hummingbird right in front of my eyes.

The Anna’s Hummingbird seems to be quite common hummingbird along the Pacific coast and is a beauty with its iridescent emerald feathers and sparkling rose-pink throats. They have the size of a ping pong ball and are able to move both back & forth. Its really amazing to watch them flying and hanging in mid air for a while. They feed mainly on nectar and insects. During cold temperatures; Anna's hummingbirds gradually gain weight during the day as they convert sugar to fat. In addition, hummingbirds with inadequate stores of body fat or insufficient plumage are able to survive periods of sub-freezing weather by lowering their metabolic rate and entering a state of torpor.

They start nesting by December or earlier or as late as June. They fly high in the air and then move rapidly downward with a particular noise. They make this noise with their tail feathers and it’s their courtship display. 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 male has a grey throat and green body. However when sunlight falls on the throat , it gleams rose-pink and feathers shines like emeralds. It uses its incandescent colors to scare its enemy from his territory. Though just a tiny creature, its quite aggressive while protecting its territory from competitors. The male bird has a long, straight bill and a dark, slightly forked tail.

Female Anna's hummingbirds also have iridescent red gorgets, though they are usually smaller and less brilliant than the males'. Females and juvenile males have a dull green crown, a grey throat with or without some red iridescence, a grey chest and belly, and a dark, rounded tail with white tips on the outer feathers.

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