This Summer's Anna's Hummingbird

Every backyard hummingbird feeder in Arizona will attract at least one of the diminutive birds. In my Phoenix yard, a male Anna's hummingbird always seems to claim it as his own, fiercely fighting other visitors away. I can't identify individual birds with any high degree of certainty, but I'm pretty sure any specific 'alpha-male' only dominates the area several months at a time. Then, a new, more aggressive replacement moves into the territory.

Many Anna's remain in Phoenix all year, while others seem to migrate to cooler climates north during the hot summer. The fellow hanging out at the moment is relatively calm and cooperative - not words I usually associate with a hummingbird! At least he is for some photographs. The close-up pictures confirm that his gorget or neck feathers, along with those on his head, are not as bright and full as those on mature males. Maybe he's filling a gap in the territory, left free when a stronger, more experienced male left for summer in Flagstaff? In any case, this juvenile is a welcome and beautiful addition to a hot desert garden in torpid August.