- Costa's Hummingbird
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Costa's Hummingbird 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Trochiliformes Family: Trochilidae Genus: Calypte Species: C. costae Binomial name Calypte costae
(Bourcier, 1839)The Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a species of hummingbird.
The Costa's Hummingbird is very small, a mature adult growing to only 3 to 3½ inches in length. The male Costa's has a mainly green back and flanks, a small black tail and wings, and patches of white below their gorgeted throat and tail. The male Costa's Hummingbird's most distinguishing feature is its vibrant purple cap and throat with the throat feathers flaring out and back behind its head. The female Costa's Hummingbird is not as distinct as the male, having grayish-green above with a white underbelly.
The Costa's Hummingbird is fairly common in the arid brushy deserts and any nearby gardens of the Southwestern United States and the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico.
Female (upper) and males
The male Costa's Hummingbird's courtship display is a spirited series of swoops and arcing dives, carefully utilizing a proper angle to the sun to show off his violet plumage to impress prospective mates. Each high-speed dive will also pass within inches of the female, perched on a nearby branch, which will be accented by a high-pitched shriek.
The Costa's Hummingbird constructs a small cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers and down and coated with lichen to hold it together.[2] The nest will be situated above ground on a yucca stalk or tree limb. The female lays just two eggs, which are white in color, which she will incubate for 15 to 18 days before the young hatch. The young Costa's Hummingbirds leave the nest after 20 to 23 days.
Like all other hummingbird species the Costa's Hummingbird feeds on flower nectar and any tiny insects that it happens to find in the flower petals.
Hybrids between this bird and the Black-chinned Hummingbird as well as the Broad-tailed Hummingbird are known.[3]
The binomial commemorates French nobleman Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marquis de Beauregard (1806-1864).
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2004). Calypte costae. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
- ^ Woods, Robert S. (1922). "The Development of Young Costa Hummingbirds". The Condor 24 (6): 189–193.
- ^ Huey, Laurence M. (1944). "A hybrid Costa's x Broad-tailed hummingbird" (PDF). The Auk 61 (4): 636–637. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v061n04/p0636-p0637.pdf.
External links
- Costa's Hummingbird videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Costa's Hummingbird Photos South Dakota Birds and Birding
- Stamps (for United States) with RangeMap
- Costa's Hummingbird photo gallery VIREO
- Photo-High Res; Article borderland-tours
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Calypte
- Endemic birds of Southwestern North America
- Birds of Mexico
- Birds of Baja Peninsula Mexico
- Birds of the Sea of Cortez
- Native birds of the Southwestern United States
- Fauna of the Mojave Desert
- Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
- Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
- Fauna of the Colorado Desert
- Western North American migratory birds
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