Calypte anna
Status: Rare casual spring, summer, and fall visitor statewide.
Documentation: Photograph: 19 Nov 2016 Omaha, Douglas Co (Brogie 2017).
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025).
Records: There are nine records, the first as recently as 2016:
28 May 2020 adult female Dawes Co (Whittecar, photos; Brogie 2023)
21 Jun 2019 immature male Scotts Bluff Co (Smith, photos; Brogie 2020)
25-27 Jun 2025 adult female Whittecar feeders, Dawes Co (Whittecar, eBird.org)
13 Jul-17 Aug 2020 immature male molting to adult, joined briefly 8 Aug by ad. male, Scotts Bluff Co (Smith, photos; eBird.org)
8 Aug 2020 adult male at Smith feeders, Scotts Bluff Co
3- 9 Oct 2018 adult male photographed by Terese Hill in Fremont (in Saunders Co) (Brogie 2019)
17-28 Oct 2022 adult male at Smith feeders, Scotts Bluff Co
30 Oct-8 Nov adult male 2022 Croft feeders, Scotts Bluff Co
19 Nov- 9 Dec 2016 sub-adult female Omaha, Nebraska feeder (Brogie 2017).
The first record was of one that appeared at the Robert Manning feeder in Omaha 19 Nov 2016, when it was videotaped. Photographs and the video were examined by Sheri Williamson, who noted that ageing females at this time of year is tricky due to ongoing molt; however, she thought it to be a “subadult female”. The second was a brightly-colored male that was first seen 3 Oct 2018 at the Hill residence feeder across the Platte River from Fremont in extreme northern Saunders Co. It was seen by several observers through 9 Oct.
These Nebraska records, except for the single May record, reflect the widespread but somewhat unpredictable post-breeding dispersal undergone by this species from Jun-Oct (Clark and Russell 2020). In addition, Anna’s Hummingbirds increased from 1970 to 2019 at a rate of 2.7% per year (CI 2.1 to 3.3% per year); this trend was most dramatic in the northern and western extent of the species’ current range and likely resulted from increased nectar availability from feeders and possible adaptations to colder temperatures (English et al 2021).
This species had been traditionally a resident along and near the California coast but has expanded its breeding range “dramatically since the mid-1930s” with recent post-breeding dispersal as far north as Alaska (Clark and Russell 2020). There are numerous records east of the Rocky Mountains scattered as far east as the Atlantic Coast (Williamson 2001, eBird.org, accessed November 2025). Adult males, such as the 2018 record above, are uncommon east of the west coast breeding range; of 29 records east of the Rockies and south to Kansas and Missouri, five were adult males, 15 were females or immature males, and 9 were unspecified (eBird.org, accessed 9 Oct 2018). On the Great Plains north of Kansas there are 18 records (eBird.org, accessed 22 Nov 2025). Of these, 14 are from Sep-Nov, the exceptions two in Jun and one each for May and Aug; eight are for South Dakota 21 Aug-13 Nov.
Images
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Brogie, M.A. 2017. 2016 (28th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 85: 128-142.
Brogie, M.A. 2019. 2018 (30th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 87: 96-109.
Brogie, M.A. 2020. 2019 (31st) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 88: 124-134.
Brogie, M.A. 2023. 2022 (34th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 91: 114-122.
Clark, C.J., and S.M. Russell. 2020. Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.annhum.01.
English, S.G., C.A Bishop, S. Wilson, and A.C. Smith. 2021. Current contrasting population trends among North American hummingbirds. Scientific Reports doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97889-x.
Iowa Ornithologists’ Union. 2017. Anna’s Hummingbird records. Iowa Records Committee reports of Iowa rare bird records, accessed 21 February 2018.
Pyle, P. 1997. Identification Guide to North American Birds. Part I, Columbidae to Ploceidae. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, California, USA.
Tallman, D.A., Swanson, D.L., and J.S. Palmer. 2002. Birds of South Dakota. Midstates/Quality Quick Print, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA.
Thompson, M.C., C.A. Ely, B. Gress, C. Otte, S.T. Patti, D. Seibel, and E.A. Young. 2011. Birds of Kansas. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Williamson, S.L. 2001. Hummingbirds of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachussetts, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2026. Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 21 May 2026