True or not? (1 Viewer)

Quite a while ago in a bookstore I read in a book that Anna's Hummingbirds did not arrive in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley (or was it even California?) before the 1950s. It would make sense if you consider that their main nectar source here are garden or other landscaping flowers and eucalyptus trees, apart from feeders of course, and I do not think that these have been here long before. Although I do not know enough about the natural flora around here to be sure. Does anyone know if this is true? And if it is, what has been the natural habitat of Anna's?

Thank you very much!

While I can't answer your question for certain, I can add the following quotes from Handbook of Birds of the World vol. 5 pp. 672:

"In recent years the species [Anna's Hummingbird] has considerably expanded its range of winter occurance in USA towards SE."

"Generally common throughout its range, and at present apparently in process of expanding. Population benefit from from introduced exotic plants and feeders provided by man."

And this is what they write about habitat:

"Chaparral, oak woodland, canyon bottoms, open woodland with evergreen broadleaf trees, riparian woodland, savanna-like vegetation, coastal shrub, urban and suburban environments, at sea-level to 1800 m."

There's also a bit of info here:

http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/caly-ann.html (under Range and Habitat).
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/ANNHUM/ (under Cool fact).

MBP, there are people in your area who would know the answer to this. You might investigate the CALBIRDS mail-list, for example. I also know of a licensed hummingbird bander in the Bay Area who almost certainly would know.

This was taken from the "All About Birds" website:
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.
Hope this helps.

This is an interesting thread to me. I grew up in Marin County in the 50's and 60's and one of my earliest bird memories is hummingbirds, getting nectar from the honeysuckle growing in our garden. It must have been summer. I think now they were annas and someone told me they were annas at the time but I can't be sure.

Thanks for all your replies! After reading them and scanning through the kindly mentioned links, I got the expression that even if what I have read seems a bit exaggerated, it also seems to be true that Anna's were able to extend their range greatly after introduction of feeders and landscaping - and of course the eukalyptus trees. I guess hummingbirds (at least the less specialized northern america ones) belong to the birds with the highest benefit from urbanisation - well, maybe apart from rock pigeons...

Another question (sorry, I am curious, and if you get answers...): When did the public interest in hummingbirds and subsequently the feeding with "artificial" nectar start? 50ies, 60ies, 70ies - or much earlier?

Thanks again!

MBP said:

I guess hummingbirds (at least the less specialized northern america ones) belong to the birds with the highest benefit from urbanisation - well, maybe apart from rock pigeons...
Thanks again!

Click to expand...

I could not disagree more. I share the opinion expressed in The Peterson Field Guide to the Hummingbirds of North America - these are generally NOT an urban bird.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

Hmmm, this was just a guess (!) from the facts that 1. there are lots of hummingbirds around in this definetly urban environment Bay Area and 2. it looks like their range extended with urbanization. It might have been a little fast due also to the wish it might be that way . Of course the numbers we have around here are far less than what appears at Frank's feeders, and as far as I remember that is not in an urban area? But at least they are not totally driven out of areas inhabited by humans, can we agree on that?

Not totally driven out, but they lack a very important feature of their habitat in the typical urban environment - shelter. To quote another ornithologist I know "If your garden looks like something Tiger Woods would use to practice putting on, you probably will not have many hummingbirds."

Mark
Bastrop, TX

Sorry about the stupid question, but what is "Tiger Woods"? A gardening company?

Professional golfer.

Ooooops...

However, I still have questions. I totally agree on the topic of shelter, but still I do not experience many hummingbirds in the surrounding county or state parks while they seem to be everywhere in the city. Why? Is it because the habitat in these parks is also not very appealing to hummingbirds? This would match the statement that Anna's have not been around here in previous times, at least if the parks reflect the status at that time. Surely redwood forests do not provide a good habitat for hummingbirds? And I guess grassland is difficult also - no flowers except in spring, and not much shelter either...

But of course I may be wrong and there are plenty of hummingbirds out there? I would love to hear that!

MBP said:

Quite a while ago in a bookstore I read in a book that Anna's Hummingbirds did not arrive in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley (or was it even California?) before the 1950s. It would make sense if you consider that their main nectar source here are garden or other landscaping flowers and eucalyptus trees, apart from feeders of course, and I do not think that these have been here long before. Although I do not know enough about the natural flora around here to be sure. Does anyone know if this is true? And if it is, what has been the natural habitat of Anna's?

Thank you very much!

Click to expand...

I think your source must be mistaken about this. I grew up in Palo Alto where I first started paying attention to birds in the early 1950s. I remember Anna's being very common at that time in backyards & other suitable habitat all year round. Ralph Hoffmann in "Birds of the Pacific States"--a quite authoritative work in its day, published in 1927--gives the its range (p.180) as follows: "Cal(ifornia). Common R(esident). at lower levels west of the Sierras, north to San Francisco Bay region & to head of Sacramento Valley; in autumn north to Humboldt Co."

Fred Petersen
Reno, Nevada

Thanks Fred. I am not well versed on Anna's having experienced a grand total of 5 actual birds and about 20 photos here in Texas, so I did not feel real comfortable addressing the validity of the statement. My gut feeling was it was in error, but your sources should certainly put that to bed. Very authoritative resources for the west coast.
You have to find the right places in parks etc. to find the birds, but usually when you do they are overwhelming in the area. I think of two great, non park, examples I have first hand experience with that really drive that home. I visit friends in the Davis Mountains of Texas on a regular basis. They live on the very edge of a canyon, have trees and brush all around and below them, run 150 feeders during migration and can not keep them full for the number of hummingbirds swarming them continuously. Meanwhile, right across the road, their neighbors can put out ten feeders and maybe receive 5 or 6 visits through the day. The difference? Other than location, the neighbors pushed back the brush and removed some trees. Another location also in west Texas on the hiway between Presidio and Terrlingua in the Big Bend Ranch State Park area, a resident has not removed much of the brush and shrubs from his property and feeds many birds of a minimum 6 different species every year. Neighbors next door do not appreciate his landscaping and wonder why they never see hummingbirds! In the Christmas Mountains (north of Big Bend National Park) I have seen a beautiful "oasis" (man made) with numerous shrubs, bushes and even a few small trees (they have had years with fewer than 10 inches of rain total in the area so trees are gonna be small) and the property owner has shown me photos of 10 or more species of hummingbird visiting her feeders. Neighbors down the hill shake their head at the idea of a hummingbird festival in the desert.
Look into the natural history of the species. Where did the family stem from? That, in itself, will say a lot about what these birds need and where to look for them. Most state parks and community parks are NOT going to be appropriately landscaped for "safety" reasons.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

Hi MBP,

I don't know about range, but I believe that suburbanation has helped the hummingbird population in Southern California to grow. I seems only logical that with population expansion you would get range expansion. I don't remember seeing as many hummingbirds as a kid as I do now. I do know that I haven't heard a meadow lark in 40 years, and I used to hear them everyday as a young teenager. They lived in the field across from my parents Orange County, CA. home. That field was long ago turned into a strip mall. They most definately didn't benefit. I think the hummers have thrived. I had a nesting hummingbird in my yard in Costa Mesa. She built her nest in a Koelreuteria tree I had in front. I never even noticed until I came home one evening and through the corner of my eye, saw movement on the grass. I went to investigate, and saw a baby hummer. I think he may have tried to fly a bit early, because he was pretty well feathered and the fall didn't seem to have hurt him. Anyway, I followed the upward path and saw a tiny nest. I put him back. I saw him with mom later. A few days after that, I was watering in the back, and a hummer started whirring around my head. I lifted my face and he flew directly in front of my eyes, hovered there for about 30 seconds, and took off. I knew that was my baby. I admit that my garden was planted for the birds and that was part of the appeal. I don't use hummingbird feeders, so my garden had lots of plants for hummers. Most gardeners didn't go as far as I did, but quite a few people, and city plantings had plants that appealed to hummingbirds. The 'planned' communities have green belts and actually provide more shelter than when the whole area was very sparse coastal scrub. Add the thousands of new condo owners hanging feeders and Voila!
I no longer own the Costa Mesa place. Our retirement home is a small house on thirty-five acres about twenty-five miles inland of San Diego. We get lots of hummingbirds out there. I have not been there for over five years. I am currently living on my sailboat, Peregrine, and have half a planet to go before I can get back to my house. One of the things I miss most is being awakened in the morning by the whirring of hummingbirds in the bottlebrushes outside my open bedroom window.

Peregrinator

Perhaps I should have stated more clearly that I am only referring to Anna's hummingbirds, it's probably different for every species.
A quote from Howell's "Hummingbirds of North America" about Anna's: "Population and range have expanded greatly in historic times, attributed to widespread planting of non-native trees and shrubs, perhaps in combination with increased year-round use of hummingbird feeders." 6 References, e.g. Zimmerman, DA 1973, Range expansion of Anna's Hummingbird: American Birds.
27 827–835

"historic times" is not very specific, though...

I could accept that for the winter distribution of Anna's.

Well, here are two quotes, first from Cornell, second from Oceanoasis (in case people miss the links in post #2):

"Originally found only on the Pacific slope from Baja California to San Francisco, Anna's Hummingbird has increased its population and expanded its breeding range in recent years to Vancouver, British Colombia, east to southern Arizona. This expansion has been abetted by the introduction of exotic flowering plants, especially Eucalyptus, red-hot-poker (Tritoma) and tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), and by the proliferation of hummingbird feeders."

"Originally confined to northwestern Baja California and Upper California west of the Sierra Nevada, Anna's Hummingbird has enjoyed an enormous range expansion over the last 65 years, as it has adapted to urban gardens. It has spread north to Vancouver, British Columbia, east through southern Arizona, and south to Guerrero Negro, Baja California. Nonbreeding vagrants have dispersed even farther, as far southeastern Alaska, Wisconsin, and Florida. Large numbers of Anna's Hummingbirds migrate from California to spend the fall in southern Arizona."