I Like Your Hat

(Anna’s Hummingbird)

Hummingbirds are Nature’s living jewels. The smallest variety is only two inches long and weighs 2 ounces. When I was a kid in St. Louis, they were rarely seen and created a lot of excitement when they were. Misguided by my own curiosity, I would try to capture one of the Ruby Throated variety in a jar. That’s just embarrassing to admit.

We’re lucky to have 14 species in California and I haven’t chased even one with a jar. At least five of these are relatively common: Rufous, Allen’s, Black-Chinned, Costa’s, and Anna’s. It’s the pugnacious Anna’s Hummingbird that captivates me most. Talk about personality.

For many years when we lived in northern California, Becky and I would bird the tidal marshes near Palo Alto almost every Sunday. We became so familiar with those marshes, that we could often predict what bird we’d find in which bush or tree, on which pole or mud flat. One of those “predictables” was a male Anna’s, who displayed affection for Becky’s maroon felt hat. No kidding. 

As we’d get close, he’d react to the color of the hat and begin his species’ daredevil mating display. He’d rocket straight upwards, out of sight. Then as a mere dot against the sky, he would reappear—wings folded, diving like an avian Chuck Yeager towards the earth at incredible speed. With stunning agility, he’d pull out of the dive, converting his energy to pendulum-like swings back and forth. He’d brake at that last death-defying moment by fanning open his wings and tail, creating a loud popping sound. 

Anna’s obtain speeds in these dives that exceed any other living creature—other than fighter pilots with a bit of help from their jet engines. If you haven’t seen this bird’s feat before, you’d be covering your eyes at that last split second of descent expecting the worst. In that second, they are experiencing a force of 9 Gs. Without the aid of their “G-suits,” fighter pilots blackout at about 5-6 Gs. Amazing. 

All of the hummingbirds share the ability to flash their jewel-quality reds, pinks, blues, greens, bronzes and oranges. Did I mention, turquoises, purples, ambers . . . ? Their colorful flashes serve as both attractants for members of the opposite sex and as territorial warnings for encroaching males.

The iridescence of hummingbird’s feathers is both glorious and unique. While iridescence in birds is structural, that is, color results from refraction not pigment, hummingbirds take phenomenon to a whole new level. In all birds that depend on structural color, their tiny feather barbules are covered with minute platelets, usually oblong in shape. In hummingbirds, the platelets are set mosaic-like against dark black backgrounds, and are pancake shaped and filled with air bubbles. The placement, shape and bubbles all add complexity to the light refracting surfaces. The result is the brilliant, flashing colors of their displays. Sorry for the lecture, but in this painting, I wanted to see if I could capture the Anna’s iridescent color, and I hoped that understanding something about how the bird made those colors might help. The result, humbly, NOT EVEN CLOSE.