Calliope Hummingbird: A Comprehensive Guide to Its Life

The Calliope Hummingbird is a tiny, yet mighty, bird species that's a wonder to behold. It's the smallest bird in North America, weighing in at a mere 0.1 ounces.

These birds are found in the southwestern United States and Mexico, where they inhabit riparian zones and mountainous regions. They're known for their iridescent feathers, which reflect the light and give them an otherworldly appearance.

The Calliope Hummingbird's diet consists mainly of nectar, which they extract from flowers using their long, extendable tongues. They also eat small insects and spiders to supplement their diet.

They're known to be fiercely territorial, with males engaging in elaborate courtship displays to attract females.

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The Calliope hummingbird is incredibly tiny, measuring just 3 inches long and weighing one-tenth of an ounce.

Both males and females have glossy, bright green plumage on their heads and backs, with white on their underparts.

Their wings and tail are worth taking a closer look at, as their wingtips tend to protrude just below the tail tip when they're perched.

The Calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird seen in the United States, according to avian scientist Eric Rasmussen.

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Calliope hummingbirds are a migratory bird, generally leaving their breeding grounds earlier than most birds to take advantage of the late-summer wildflowers in the mountains of western North America.

They range in elevation from as low as 134 m to as high as 3400 m, and utilize a variety of habitats throughout their range, primarily open montane forest, mountain meadows, and riparian areas dominated by willow and alder thickets.

In California and Oregon, they have been observed nesting in clearcut or burned areas 8-15 years after disturbance, once in the late shrub-sapling stage of succession.

Their breeding grounds are typically found in cool climates in the mountains of the northwestern United States, where temperatures range from 0.5-25˚C during the nesting season.

These birds are known for their unique behavior, including their ability to assist in plant pollination while collecting nectar from flowers using their long extendable tongue.

Their nests are often built on the base of large pine cones and somewhat resemble a pine cone itself, with a female building an open cup nest in a conifer tree under an overhanging branch.

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Calliope hummingbirds are a migratory bird, generally leaving their breeding grounds earlier than most birds to take advantage of the late-summer wildflowers in the mountains of western North America.

They are believed to be the smallest-bodied long distance migrant in the world.

These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue, drink sap from holes created by sapsuckers or catch insects on the wing.

While collecting nectar, they also assist in plant pollination. Plants preferred for pollinating include paintbrush, penstemon, columbine, trumpet gilia, and elephant head.

Adult males usually arrive on the breeding ground before females, from mid-April to early May.

The male claims and vigorously defends a nesting territory in which he will breed with many females.

The male takes no part in raising the young and often actually vacates the breeding grounds by the time the young hatch.

The female usually builds an open cup nest in a conifer tree under an overhanging branch, though apple and alder trees have also been used.

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A nest may be used repeatedly over the course of several years.

Two eggs are laid from late May to early July and are incubated for 15 to 16 days.

The young are capable of flight about 20 days after hatching.

The location of the 1 1/2-inch-wide nests can vary, but they’re typically several feet up in a conifer tree.

The female hummingbird cares for the young until they are ready for the first flight around three weeks old.

Outside the tent, rarely have I seen the calliope hummingbird still its wings.

Calliope Hummingbirds breed in a variety of open shrub habitats, including mountain meadows and willow and alder thickets.

Their breeding habitats range from as low as 600 ft in Oregon and Washington to over 11,000 ft in the Rocky Mountains.

In Montana, the minimum elevation observed for breeding is 1,200 m.

The humming sound of hummingbirds is an audible communication that alerts other birds of their presence.

Hummingbirds produce this sound through rapid wingbeats, which generate aerodynamic forces during both downstrokes and upstrokes.

This sound is particularly noticeable during flight and hovering, when hummingbirds are feeding or interacting with other birds.

Humming serves as a warning to other birds, indicating the arrival of a fellow forager or potential mate.

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Calliope hummingbirds need a constant food supply to maintain their energy, so it's essential to create an ideal habitat in your backyard.

Native plants with smaller blossoms are the best way to attract Calliope hummingbirds. Choose plants like anise hyssop, beardtongue, bee balm, coral bells, golden currant, Indian paintbrush, and western columbine.

They also eat insects, which they catch in midair while perching on branches.

If you put out sugar-water feeders, don't use red dye in the mixture.

Calliope hummingbirds collect spiderwebs for their nests, and they prefer shallow water features that gently bubble.

For another approach, see: Calliope vs Anna's Hummingbird

The Calliope Hummingbird's conservation status is a bit of a mixed bag. It's listed as an IUCN species of least concern, but it's also a Partners in Flight Watch List Species and a USFWS 2008 Bird of Conservation Concern.

Feeding Calliope Hummingbirds at your feeder can actually have a negative impact on their population, especially during the winter months when mortality rates are high. This is because feeders can artificially elevate population levels during nesting season, making it seem like the birds are thriving when they're not.

However, there are efforts underway to help conserve the Calliope Hummingbird population, including the Western Hummingbird Partnership, which is based in Boulder, Colorado.

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Male calliope hummingbirds are quite the show-offs during courtship. They hover at an accelerated wingbeat frequency of up to 95 flaps per second, creating a loud buzzing sound.

This display is a crucial part of their mating ritual. The male's throat feathers protrude and face the female, adding to the visual spectacle.

To make their display even more impressive, male calliope hummingbirds temporarily ascend to 20 meters and dive at high speed. This rapid descent causes a sonation of their wing and tail feathers combined with vocalization.

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Research has shown that the male's courtship display includes three independent feather or vocal components, each with different acoustic characteristics. This suggests that the display may contain different messages appealing to the female.

Male calliope hummingbirds also make visual displays by extending their purple gorget feathers to appear larger. This is a key part of their courtship behavior, helping them to attract a mate.

Despite their impressive displays, male calliope hummingbirds aren't particularly noisy birds. They do make a zippy chip sound when foraging or encountering other birds, but they don't have a traditional bird song.

The Calliope Hummingbird is listed as an IUCN species of least concern, but it's still a species of concern due to feeders artificially elevating population levels during nesting season.

Feeders can actually contribute to high mortality in the winter months, which is why the species is also listed as a Partners in Flight Watch List Species.

The Western Hummingbird Partnership is working to address these conservation concerns, and you can contact them at 5171 Eldorado Springs Drive Suite N, Boulder, CO 80303.