**Nature Nugget**
One of the great joys of living on the Half Moon Bay Coastside is the population of hummingbirds. Our gardens and prairies are frequented by these little hummers, darting from flower to flower, dipping their long thin bills (and even longer tongues) into narrow tubular flowers, sucking up the nectar using capillary action to absorb the nectar, similar to the way a paper towel absorbs water.
Among these beautiful birds, is the Anna’s Hummingbird. They are hardy, permanent residents along the west coast of the United States, and are also the most common hummingbird on the west coast. These tiny, muscular birds are generally lighter than a nickel and no larger than a golf ball, with 30% of their weight consisting of flight muscles.
Males have an iridescent raspberry colored crown and throat that extends to the sides of the neck. Females have green heads, with a small amount of raspberry on their throats. These hummingbirds feed on nectar from flowers and feeders, as well as small insects and spiders. The Anna’s hummingbird consumes more insects than any of the other North American hummingbirds, catching small flying insects, and even eating spiders and trapped insects right from the spider webs.
The courtship behavior of breeding Anna’s Hummingbirds is quite unique, as it incorporates males singing energetically to females and performing immense aerial dives that end with a sharp noise caused by their vibrating tail feathers. As is the case with other hummingbird species, male and female Anna's Hummingbirds associate only long enough to mate but the female alone will raise the young. The female is responsible for construction of the nest (commonly made of soft plant material, moss, and spiderwebs). Their nests are small, and measure approximately 1.5 inches in diameter and 1 inch in height. Due to the use of spider webs as the binding material, the nest will stretch, growing with the nestlings until they are ready to fledge.