Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) lives in desert scrub across Southwestern North America. It feeds on nectar & insects. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
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Costa's hummingbird is known to hybridise with three other hummingbird species. Documented hybrids involve Anna's hummingbird, black-chinned hummingbird and broad-tailed hummingbird, showing that genetic exchange can occur across genera.
In courtship the male Costa's hummingbird performs a rapid dive past a perched female, using the sun's angle to flash his violet gorget. During this high-speed pass the tail feathers generate a sharp, high-pitched buzz that accompanies the visual display. He may also hover close to the female before the dive, and later perch to emit a scratch-like song, adding an auditory element to his elaborate routine.
The female Costa's hummingbird constructs a tiny cup-shaped nest using plant fibres, down and occasional spider silk, then coats it with lichen to hold it together. She typically secures the nest on a yucca stalk or a tree limb, providing a stable platform in her arid habitat. Within this nest she lays just two white eggs, which she incubates for 15 to 18 days before the chicks hatch.
The female builds a tiny cup-shaped nest from plant fibres, down and occasional spider silk, coating it with lichen for extra strength, and places it on a yucca stalk or tree limb. Inside she lays just two white eggs, which she incubates for 15 to 18 days before the chicks hatch. After hatching the fledglings remain in the nest for about three weeks, leaving it after 20 to 23 days.
When Jules Bourcier formally described the species in 1839, he gave it the binomial Ornismya costae, deliberately choosing the specific epithet to honour the French nobleman and fellow ornithologist Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marquis de Beauregard, who lived from 1806 to 1864. This naming links the bird's identity to a historical figure in ornithology.
Sources
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In the arid landscapes of the American Southwest, the Costa's Hummingbird dances on iridescent wings, its brilliant purple throat patch flashing like a jewel as it darts from cactus flower to cactus flower. With a whir of its beating heart, this tiny, iridescent bird navigates the desert's spare beauty, its long, extendable tongue darting in and out to gather nectar from the scarce, sweet blooms. As it flits and hovers, its very presence seems to embody the ephemeral, sun-kissed essence of the desert itself.
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