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Project Noah Nature School
Calypte anna
A gorgeous juvenile male Anna's Hummingbird just growing into his adult breeding feathers. Can you spy the one red feather he has already grown on the top of his head?
These beautiful little birds are all over Victoria this time of year - in fact they are a common occurrence year-round! All Anna's Hummingbirds used to migrate to and from the South Coast of BC, but a population started staying full-time about 50 years ago. Researchers think it is a mixture of the many ornamental exotic flowers in gardens, the many feeders, and a warming trend in climate that is allowing so many of these birds to now live in BC permanently. Many also still migrate to the area in the summer, so in those months we get a double dose!
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FEEDERS: If you put out a hummingbird feeder, please please PLEASE only ever fill it with sugar water. The nectar you can buy from the store is often full of other ingredients such as artificial colours that is not healthy for the birds. Also, please CLEAN your feeder THOROUGHLY and REGULARLY (every three days or whenever you refill your feeder). Many birds actually get fatally ill from drinking nectar from a feeder that has mold or other bacteria growing in it! Thanks for supporting these little birds and keeping them healthy! Photo: Juvenile Male Anna's in the Sunglow - Victoria, BC - August 2015 ISO 250 - F6.3 - 1/125 - 400mm facebook.com/alenasphotography www.alenaesphotography.com
Spotted on Aug 5, 2015
Submitted on Aug 6, 2015
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