Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's hummingbird is found along the west coast of North America, from southern Canada to northern Baja California. It can also be found inland in much of Arizona, and portions of New Mexico and southern Nevada. 

The male has an iridescent red crown and gorget (patch of colored feathers on the throat or breast) which can look dull brown or gray when not in direct sunlight. It also has an iridescent bronze/green back, a pale gray chest and and green flanks. Females also have iridescent red gorgets, though usually smaller and less brilliant than the male's. 

I was in Live Oak Canyon this morning, down in the wash, and got my best photo of a hummingbird so far, a female Anna's. Standing on a tree limb its throat looks patchy black. But my out-of-focus photo of it flying captures the brilliant red. 

We had a hummingbird nest in our tree this spring, in a tree right outside the side door of our home. It was abandoned for a reason unknown to us.