Anna's Hummingbird

This morning, on the fourth day of our week in Arizona, we were at a house with a number of hummingbird feeders. It's late for hummingbirds, and so the only ones we saw were Anna's (Calypte anna).

Only the males have a red crown (or gorget), and this one is especially complete, reflecting the sun to produce the brilliant iridescence. This is what I was after, and it took me nearly an hour, although there were several hummingbirds around. For the brightest iridescence, the angle to the sun has to be virtually perfect.

Edit: The light here is entirely natural, and it may be the best shot of just this sort that I've ever managed.

The location is Mary Jo's bed and breakfast, about a dozen miles south of Sierra Vista AZ. Her yard is open year round to birders for a modest fee, and it's a great spot. August is usually the best month for hummingbirds, and it would not be unusual to see at least a dozen species here (about half of those found in the U.S., including uncommon ones.)

Edit II: In the eastern U.S. only one hummingbird species is normally present: the Ruby-throated hummingbird, while in the west nearly two dozen species are possible, though some only rarely.