Anna’s Hummingbird
Location: 417 California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306
The Fierce Jewels of the Bay Area
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a tiny biological marvel operating at the absolute limits of vertebrate physiology. To sustain its high-octane lifestyle, this minuscule bird lives on a constant knife-edge of survival, driven by a metabolic engine that requires almost continuous fueling.
Size: About 4 inches long and only 3–6 grams.
Look: Emerald-green back and pale belly. Males have a brilliant magenta-pink crown and throat called a gorget.
Bay Area Schedule: Year-round resident.
Fascinating Facts
The 130-Foot Courtship Dive: Male Anna's Hummingbirds perform dramatic dives from high above, reaching speeds of nearly 50–60 mph.
Tiny but Fearless: Despite being small, they aggressively defend flowers and feeders, sometimes chasing much larger birds.
Energy Experts: They feed frequently every 10 to 15 minutes throughout the day to avoid a catastrophic energy crash, consuming 1.5 to 3 times their own body weight in food and liquid every single day. While they drink nectar for immediate fuel, they are also voracious predators, hawking mid-air to catch hundreds of tiny insects and spiders daily for critical protein.
Olympic-Level Exertion: Gram-for-gram, a hovering hummingbird burns oxygen at a rate 10 times higher than an elite human Olympic athlete operating at absolute maximum physical exhaustion.
The Nightly "Hibernation": Because they burn fuel so rapidly, they would starve to death during an 8-hour sleep. To survive the night, they enter torpor—a state of suspended animation where they drop their body temperature near freezing and slow their heart rate down to just 50 beats per minute to save energy.
How to Welcome Them: Food, Flowers & Fresh Feeders
Mix sugar water: 4 parts water + 1 part white sugar.
Never add red dye, honey, or artificial sweeteners.
Keep feeders clean.
Provide insects by avoiding pesticides.
Create a Blooming Buffet
California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum): Provides bright red flowers in late summer and fall.
Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea): Tubular flowers are ideal for hummingbirds.
Toyon & Manzanita: Offer shelter, flowers, and nesting materials.