Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 3.5 in
9 cm - Wingspan
- 4.3 in
11 cm - Weight
- 0.1–0.1 oz
2–3 g
Other Names
- Colibri de Costa (French)
- Colibrí de Costa (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- Researchers have found that Costa's Hummingbird can enter a torpid state, with slowed heart rates and reduced body temperatures, under low ambient nighttime temperatures. The hearts of torpid Costa's Hummingbirds beat about 50 times per minute, while those of nontorpid resting Costa's Hummingbirds beat 500 to 900 times per minute.
Habitat
Deserts
Desert and semi-desert, arid brushy foothills and chaparral, in migration and winter also in adjacent mountains and in open meadows and gardens.
Food
Nectar
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 2–3 eggs
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless.
Nest Placement
Shrub
Behavior
Hovering
Conservation
Least Concern
Loss of habitat, especially coastal scrub and Sonoran desert scrub, pose the most serious threat to the species. Availability of feeders may have a compensating effect, to an undetermined degree.
Credits
- Baltosser, W. H., and P. E. Scott. 1996. Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae). In The Birds of North America, No. 251 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.