Tiny Bather
by Priya Ghose
Title
Tiny Bather
Artist
Priya Ghose
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
This is a photograph of a female Anna's Hummingbird bathing in our small backyard waterfall area. This is our resident hummingbird, who spends much of her day sitting on a branch and diligently guarding our small backyard against other hummingbird intruders intent on sipping from HER flowers. When an intruder is spotted, a dramatic fight ensues; she will repeatedly yell, dive at, and chase the trespasser out of her garden. These dramatic battles can go on for quite sometime, and are spectacular to behold. While I've tried to tell her that there are enough flowers for everyone (I plant many flowers specifically to attract hummingbirds and other pollinators), she remains unconvinced.
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. Anna's Hummingbirds are found along the western coast of North America, from southern Canada to northern Baja California, and inland to southern Arizona. They tend to be permanent residents within their range, and are very territorial.
Anna's hummingbirds are the only hummingbirds to spend the winter in northern climates; they are able to do this as there are enough winter flowers and food to support them. During cold temperatures, Anna's Hummingbirds gradually gain weight during the day as they convert sugar to fat. In addition, hummingbirds with inadequate stores of body fat or insufficient plumage are able to survive periods of sub-freezing weather by lowering their metabolic rate and entering a state of torpor.
There are an estimated 1.5 million Anna's Hummingbirds.
Uploaded
July 7th, 2012
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