By Bruce McCammon May 23, 2022
Hummingbirds are a special family in the world of birds. One of 249 bird families recognized in the Clements 2021 taxonomy, Trochilidae contains 352 distinct hummingbird species. This is the third largest bird family. The greatest number of hummingbird species reside in the tropics between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The South American countries, Colombia (158 species), Ecuador (129 species), Peru (126 species), and Venezuela (103 species), tally the greatest number of hummingbird species. Washington State is fortunate to see four hummingbird species each year: Anna’s, Black-chinned, Calliope, and Rufous. Of the four species we see in Washington, only the Anna’s has a year-long presence. The other species migrate south during the cold, winter months.
I had the good fortune to film an active Anna’s Hummingbird nest in Wenatchee in 2021. I first saw the nest on March 3, 2021 and the babies fledged by April 14, 2021. This nest was one of five nests I was able to observe that summer. Two of the five nests were successful in producing young. Two of the other four nests were abandoned by the adult. The story of the last nest remains a mystery. There is photo documentation of another active Anna’s nest from 2019 in Chelan Falls but it is unknown if the nest was successful. The movies I produced remain the only firm evidence of successful nesting of Anna’s Hummingbirds in the Wenatchee valley.
When I was asked to present a program about hummingbirds at the 2022 Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest I began the process of editing the numerous movie clips from 2021 to produce an educational ten-minute video to tell the story. The video was premiered at the end of my one-hour presentation on May 20, 2022. You can watch the presentation video if you visit the North Central Washington Audubon Society website and navigate to the Hummingbird page under Resources The link to the movie is listed under the “Videos” section at the bottom of the page.
A direct link to the movie on the North Central Washington Audubon Society’s YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqXVIvzpSsI.
Guest blogger, Bruce McCammon lives in Wenatchee and is a member of the North Central Washington Audubon Society board. He is an active bird photographer, creator of the popular Common Birds of North Central Washington poster, and self-published a book, Bird Tales-100 Photo Essays, in 2019. He has a keen interest in hummingbirds and co-leads the NCWAS Hummingbird project. He monitored five hummingbird nests in 2019. A photo taken during that effort was a winner in the Hummingbird Monitoring Network’s international photo contest. Still learning about and fascinated by hummingbirds, Bruce continues to study and admire hummingbirds. Contact Bruce at bruce.mccammon@gmail.com
