Costa's Hummingbird

Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a diminutive, hardy native of the American Southwest's arid desert landscapes. Named after French nobleman Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marquis de Beau-Regard, this species is highly adapted to life in harsh, dry environments. While females and juveniles are subtly colored, adult males boast arguably one of the most striking displays of visual armor in the avian world: a brilliant, deep violet-purple crown and long, sweeping throat gorget that flares out dramatically like an oversized mustache or Elizabethan ruff.

Identifying Costa's Hummingbird involves looking closely at the male's distinct violet patterning and comparing the female to similar desert hummingbirds. Adult Males: Instantly recognizable by their iridescent violet-purple crown and gorget. The gorget is exceptionally long, tapering into dramatic side-flares that extend well past the throat onto the sides of the breast. The back is a dull metallic green, and the underparts are whitish with green flanks. Adult Females: Lacking the purple crown and throat, females have a metallic green back and a clean, grayish-white breast and belly. Their tail is relatively short, with white tips on the outer three pairs of tail feathers. Similar Species: Anna's Hummingbird is larger, with a rose-pink crown/throat and shorter, less flared throat feathers. Black-chinned Hummingbird males have a purple band only on the bottom of a black throat and lack the purple crown, while females have longer, more curved bills and pump their tails frequently.

Costa's Hummingbirds are quintessential desert specialists. They are primarily found in desert scrub, arid washes, chaparral, dry brushy slopes, coastal sage scrub, and suburban gardens featuring desert landscaping in cities like Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. Geographic Range: Their breeding range encompasses the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of southern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, Arizona, and Baja California. Many populations migrate to western Mexico or southward within Baja California for the winter, though some remain year-round in milder urban oases or low-desert areas where exotic plants or feeders provide continuous sustenance.

Vocalizations and Display: During the breeding season, males perform spectacular courtship displays, ascending up to 100 feet in the sky before diving down in a wide, sweeping U-shaped loop. At the bottom of the dive, they produce an incredibly high-pitched, piercing, metallic whistle generated by air rushing through their outer tail feathers. Feeding: Costa's Hummingbirds feed on nectar from native desert plants, such as chuparosa, desert-lavender, and ocotillo, and readily visit backyard feeders. To meet their protein needs, they also hunt extensively for small spiders and flying insects, catching them mid-air. Torpor: To conserve energy during cold desert nights, they can enter a state of torpor, temporarily lowering their body temperature and slowing their heart rate. Nesting: Females build small, cup-shaped nests out of plant down, flower bud scales, and lichen, bound together with sticky spider silk on low, downward-pointing branches of desert shrubs.