Anna’s Hummingbird

by Marty Smith via Tom Conger

Nectar Bartender: My new hummingbird feeders got no takers all summer. Now, in late November, I’ve suddenly got hummers galore. If Portland is where they migrate for winter, they must spend their summers at the North Pole. Is this yet another harbinger of climate doom?

Anonymous Birding Consultant: I’m glad things are finally working out with your feeder, Bartender, though obviously I’m disappointed to learn that Hummers Galore is not, in fact, Pussy Galore’s even more popular big sister. That said, I do have to correct a few of your assumptions.

Anna’s Hummingbird

What you’re seeing is probably the species known as Anna’s Hummingbird, and your climate fears may be partially allayed when you learn that, unlike every other hummingbird in North America, this one is nonmigratory. Despite their tropical appearance—the males’ faces shine an iridescent fuchsia in the right light—these hardy little bastards butch out the Northwest winter as far north as British Columbia.

Granted, they’re newcomers. Native to California, the Anna’s hummingbird wasn’t seen in Oregon until the 1940s. However, it wasn’t a changing climate that brought them north, but a revamped menu.

Our native trees (think Doug fir or Sitka spruce), for all their stately majesty, suck at producing the nectar hummingbirds crave. The advance of civilization’s plow, however, brought with it lots of non-native flowering species (as well as a not insignificant number of easy marks like you) upon which the birds could thrive.

Thus, while the earth and its climate are certainly doomed, the presence of hummingbirds in Portland in December is not, in itself, a direct sign of that doom. Enjoy!