It's not too often that you see these guys resting. This one was perched on a dead tree left by the 2004 fire that hit the area around the town of Julian, CA. The surrounding branches were already mostly black and white in the original photo, so I decided to take it one step further and make the background completely black and white. Dad says it's probably Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna). There are times the Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) looks similar, though. Maybe Jon or Libby Rowley have some thoughts. |
Permalink Posted Nov 01, 2006 9:42 pm |
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Your Dad is right, of course. You can eliminate Black-chinned because their color is only on their chin - this male's head is also crowned. Also, their feathers shine purple from black.
The most similar hummingbird is the Costa's, which we do have in So Cal. The most obvious difference in those is that their colorful feathers are purple rather than red. Plus, they live either near the coast or in the desert (depending on the time of year) so Julian is pretty much out of their range (except perhaps during their migration from Anza Borrego to the coast).
Interesting fact: Anna's and Costa's are the only hummingbirds in the U.S. that sing.
That's a really beautiful photo. Hummingbirds are notoroiusly difficult to photograph. I love the detail, I feel like I'm gazing into his challening eyes.
Thanks for posting it!
Jon @ Nov 17, 2006 6:53 pm
This is my favorite of your photos so far, Daniel. Awesome!
Mom Takahashi @ Aug 02, 2007 5:08 am
very beautiful!!
Dave @ Oct 05, 2010 3:40 am
That's the thinking of a cretavie mind
Philinda @ Feb 14, 2012 2:52 am