Hello! Today we will be learning about the Costa's Hummingbird! It is a violet-colored hummingbird that can be found nesting in the Sonoran Desert. Costa's Hummingbirds love to eat nectar and hover over the desert. So, go ahead, start exploring the Costa's Hummingbird!
 WHO AM I? I am a small, desert hummingbird. I enjoy spending my time hovering in the Sonoran Desert.
WHERE DO I LIVE? I can be found in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and in the Mojave Desert in California. When it gets too hot, I usually move to a woodland or chaparral habitat. I also like to be in open meadows and in gardens. I like to nest in shrubs.
 WHAT DO I EAT? My favorite food is nectar. I feed off of nectar from desert honeysuckles and saguaro flowers. Sometimes, I eat small insects that I catch in the air.
 HOW DO I LOOK? I have green upper parts. If I am a male, I have a violet crown and a throat patch. If I am a female, I have a white throat and underparts and my feathers are violet.
 HOW DO I REPRODUCE?
I breed between January and May, but we do not form pairs. If I am a male, I attract the female with my high-pitch calls. If I am a female, I will build a nest and then lay my eggs. In about 16 days, the eggs will hatch!
FUN FACTS!
At night my heart can beat only 50 times a minute. When I am awake, it can beat from 500 to 900 times a minute!
 ACTIVITIES
K- Decorate your very own feather and as a class combine all the different feathers. Like the Costa's Hummingbird, you will bedazzle your classroom!
1st- Build your own nest and include the things/people you love the most in your nest!
2nd- Create a collage of a Costa's Hummingbird that tells us all about them. Include pictures of their habitat, what they eat, and what they look like.
3rd- You have now become a Costa's Hummingbird! Write about who/what you encounter in the Sonoran Desert.
To Find Out More About Costa's Hummingbird Visit These Sites! Costa's Hummingbird (Images and Information)- http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Costas_Hummingbird/id/ac Costa's Hummingbird (Image)- http://deepcanyon.ucnrs.org/ Costa's Hummingbird (Image)- http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/search2.cgi?species=Costa's%20Hummingbird Costa's Hummingbird (Image and Information)- http://www.theanimalfiles.com/birds/hummingbirds_swifts/costas_hummingbird.html |