Calliope Hummingbird

The Calliope Hummingbird at only around 3 inches long, is the smallest breeding bird in North America, and the smallest long-distance migratory bird in the world. It migrates as far as 5,600 miles from the western United States and Canada, where it shares its montane breeding habitat with the Rufous Hummingbird, to wintering grounds in southern Mexico.

The male flashes his magenta gorget as it dances and hovers, performing U-shaped display dives for females. During these displays he makes a buzzing noise with tail feathers and gives a sharp zinging call.

Adult Male (spring/summer)

Small hummingbird with a hunched posture. Adult males have a magenta streaked gorget and greenish vest.

Adult Female/Immature

Smallest hummingbird in North America with short wings and tail. Females/immatures have a peachy wash across their underparts and a bronzy-greenish back.

General:

The Calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird native to the US and Canada. It has a western breeding range mainly from California to British Columbia, and migrates to the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America for its wintering grounds. It was previously considered the only member of the genus Stellula, but recent evidence suggests placement in the genus Selasphorus.

Behaviour:

On the breeding grounds, male Calliope Hummingbirds aggressively defend their territories. Males spend more than half their time perched on exposed branches of willows and alders with a good view of their territory, allowing them to quickly chase off any intruders. Despite their tiny size they chase away much larger birds including raptors and other species that come near. They spend around 6% of their time performing shuttle and dive displays primarily for females. In their spectacular U-shaped dives, they fly up to 100 feet in the air, dive to near the ground, and then rise up again to repeat the flight. During the dive they make a sputtering buzz with their tail feathers and make a sharp, high-pitched zinging call. Males also perform a shuttle display, in which they hover in front of females with their gorgets flared and wings pulsing to produce a bumblebee-like buzz. Males display for multiple females but do not help care for the young. Though they are strongly territorial on the breeding grounds they are subordinate to larger hummingbird species on the wintering grounds in Mexico.

Habitat:

This tiny hummingbird breeds in cool mountain environments in mountain meadows, willow and alder thickets near streams, and forests regenerating after a fire or logging. They typically breed at elevations between 4,000 and 11,000 feet, but may breed down to 600 feet along the Columbia River. During spring they migrate north along the coast, stopping in desert washes, coastal scrub near streams, and lower coastal forests to refuel. In the fall they fly south via the Rocky Mountains, stopping in subalpine and mountain meadows. In the winter months, Calliope Hummingbirds use thorn forests, pine-oak forests, and brushy edges in Mexico.

Information:

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in North America and weighs less than 3 grams.
This tiny hummingbird is the smallest long-distance migrant in the world. Calliope Hummingbirds travel around 5,000 miles each year in a big oval from the breeding to wintering grounds. They migrate north along the Pacific Coast in the spring, but return to the wintering grounds in Mexico via an inland route along the Rocky Mountains.

Similar species:

Conservation Status:

Calliope Hummingbirds are fairly common and their populations appear relatively stable, though they experienced a small decline of about 0.06% from 1968 to 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population at 4.5 million and rates the Calliope Hummingbird 14 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. It is included on their Yellow Watch List for species with a restricted range (the entire population winters in Mexico).

Capture Rates

Calliope Hummingbird is a rare transient to the coast of British Columbia preferring the drier chaparral habitat of BC’s interior and as such, captures have been limited to two males in spring.

Molt Summary:

PF: partial (Jul-Oct), 1st PA absent, 2nd PB complete. def PA limited-partial (Jul-Sep), Def PB complete (Oct-Mar)

Juvenile has a soft and corrugated bill, feathers of the upperparts with distinct buff edging, and center of the underparts more buffy. Juvs can be reliably sexed by differences in wg, p10 shape, degree of the tail fork, and pattern of the central rectrices.