Anna's Hummingbird vs Sooty Barbthroat
Calypte anna compared with Threnetes niger
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Anna's Hummingbird | Sooty Barbthroat |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Calypte anna | Threnetes niger |
| Order | Caprimulgiformes | Caprimulgiformes |
| Family | Trochilidae | Trochilidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 10.0 cm (3.9 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 12.0 cm (4.7 in) | 11.8 cm (4.6 in) |
| Weight | 4.3 g (0.15 oz) | 5.8 g (0.20 oz) |
| Diet | Nectar, small insects, and tree sap. Visits a wide variety of native and ornamental flowering … | Primarily nectarivore visiting tubular flowers; supplements diet with small insects and spiders for protein. |
| Clutch Size | 2 | 2 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Anna's Hummingbird
Chaparral, coastal sage scrub, gardens, parks, and open woodland along the Pacific coast. One of few hummingbirds not fully migratory.
Song & Call Comparison
Anna's Hummingbird
Male produces a complex, scratchy song with buzzy 'dzzzzt' notes. Gives a nasal 'chee-chee-chee'. Males sing year-round, even in winter; one of few hummingbirds with true song.
Sooty Barbthroat
Melodic, descending whistle with rich timbre; smooth pure tone dropping gracefully through several semitones then fading.
Geographic Range & Migration
Anna's Hummingbird
Western North America from southern British Columbia along the Pacific coast to Baja California. Range has expanded northward.
Sooty Barbthroat
Found in a restricted range in northeastern Brazil and adjacent French Guiana. Resident in coastal rainforest. Rare and locally distributed.
Conservation Status
Anna's Hummingbird
Sooty Barbthroat
How to Tell Them Apart
Anna's Hummingbird
Metallic bronze-green upperparts. Males have an iridescent rose-red crown and gorget. Females have green upperparts with grey underparts and a small red gorget patch.
Medium-length, straight, thin black bill
Sooty Barbthroat
Dark sooty-brown and green upperparts; sooty-dark throat and breast; belly pale grey-buff; tail dark with pale tip; Guiana region endemic; distinctly darker and sootier below than other barbthroats with heavily …
About These Birds
Anna's Hummingbird
Anna's hummingbird is the most common hummingbird along the Pacific coast and one of only three species resident in the United States year-round. Males perform spectacular dive displays, plummeting from 40 meters and pulling up with a loud chirp produced by tail feathers. Their body temperature can drop to near ambient at night to conserve energy.
Sooty Barbthroat
A medium-sized hummingbird (10-12 cm) found in humid lowland forests of the eastern Amazon basin and the Guianas. Dark sooty-green plumage. Nectarivore of dense forest undergrowth. One of the least known hermit hummingbirds due to its restricted range in remote forests.