Desert Fuel
by Lynn Bauer
Title
Desert Fuel
Artist
Lynn Bauer
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
DESERT FUEL by Lynn Bauer - A beautiful little Costas hummingbird spent lots of time allowing me to photograph him as he fed off a prickly bush with it's tiny purple flowers. Although this bush seemed a little boring, it created a wonderful backdrop for the briliant colors of this incredible little bird!
The Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a species of hummingbird.
The Costa's Hummingbird is very small, a mature adult growing to only 3 to 3 1/2 inches in length. The male Costa's has a mainly green back and flanks, a small black tail and wings, and patches of white below their gorgeted throat and tail. The male Costa's Hummingbird's most distinguishing feature is its vibrant purple cap and throat with the throat feathers flaring out and back behind its head. The female Costa's Hummingbird is not as distinct as the male, having grayish-green above with a white underbelly.
The Costa's Hummingbird is fairly common in the arid brushy deserts and any nearby gardens of the Southwestern United States and the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico.
The male Costa's Hummingbird's courtship display is a spirited series of swoops and arcing dives, carefully utilizing a proper angle to the sun to show off his violet plumage to impress prospective mates. Each high-speed dive will also pass within inches of the female, perched on a nearby branch, which will be accented by a high-pitched shriek.
The Costa's Hummingbird constructs a small cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers and down and coated with lichen to hold it together.[2] The nest will be situated above ground on a yucca stalk or tree limb. The female lays just two eggs, which are white in color, which she will incubate for 15 to 18 days before the young hatch. The young Costa's Hummingbirds leave the nest after 20 to 23 days.
Like all other hummingbird species the Costa's Hummingbird feeds on flower nectar and any tiny insects that it happens to find in the flower petals.
Uploaded
January 2nd, 2013
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