Costa's Hummingbird

The Costa's Hummingbird is a small, heat-tolerant hummingbird well adapted to the arid deserts of the southwestern United States and Baja California. Adult males are striking, with an iridescent violet-purple crown and throat, the gorget feathers extending outward past the neck in elongated, flared streamers that give the face a distinctive mustached appearance. Females are much plainer, with a green back, whitish underparts, and no gorget, closely resembling several other female desert hummingbirds.

Costa's Hummingbirds are well suited to some of the hottest, driest habitats used by any North American hummingbird, timing their breeding to coincide with the brief desert wildflower bloom.

Key Field Marks

• Male: brilliant violet-purple crown and throat, gorget feathers extend outward in pointed streamers past the sides of the neck
• Female: green back, pale underparts, small size, subtle grayish face
• Relatively short tail and stocky build compared to some desert relatives

Similar Species

• Black-chinned Hummingbird males have a black throat with only a narrow purple band, not an all-purple crown and gorget.
• Anna's Hummingbird males have a rose-pink to magenta (not violet-purple) crown and throat and are notably larger.
• Female Costa's are best distinguished from other female hummingbirds by small size, short tail, and desert habitat.

Habitat

This species is a desert specialist, favoring desert scrub, chaparral, dry washes, and increasingly, desert gardens and parks with suitable flowering plants.

Range

It breeds across the deserts of the southwestern United States, including California, Arizona, and Nevada, and through Baja California and Sonora, Mexico.

Migration

Many Costa's Hummingbirds are short-distance migrants or partial migrants, moving to slightly cooler or moister areas outside the breeding season, while some remain resident year-round in milder parts of their range.

Behavior

Males perform high, U-shaped display dives accompanied by a high-pitched whistling sound produced as air passes over their tail feathers, often timed to breeding activity that begins very early in the year to match the desert bloom.

Voice

The male's dive produces a distinctive thin, high whistle; calls include sharp, high-pitched chips.

Feeding

Costa's Hummingbirds feed on nectar from desert-adapted plants such as ocotillo, chuparosa, and desert honeysuckle, and take small insects to supplement their diet.

Nesting

Females build a small cup nest low in a shrub or cactus, often beginning nesting as early as midwinter to take advantage of the desert's brief spring bloom.