Calypte anna

This female Anna's Hummingbird buzzed in while I was watching birds in my friends' backyard in Eureka this afternoon. The rain let up after pouring down this morning and it wasn't too chilly out to sit on the deck and act as inanimate as possible while the chickadees and nuthatches and sparrows dove in for seed snacks.

Anna's Hummingbird is a year-round resident of the west coast of the U.S., with a range stretching from Baja California to British Columbia. It's the only hummingbird to overwinter so far north, which is possible only because its coastal range, with its continuously flowering plants and mild climate, is habitable to them throughout the year.

Mature males sport a brilliant fuschia-red gorget while the female's throat is white with faint streaking.