The Xantus' Hummingbird, a close cousin to mainland Mexico's White-eared Hummingbird, is endemic to Baja California Sur, the southern Baja penisula state. Although Xantus' have ventured twice into California and once into British Columbia, birders will have to visit Baja to see this beautiful bird.
Baja California, Mexico
Baja California is an eight hundred-mile narrow peninsula that borders California to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the east. It is believed that the peninsula split from mainland Mexico some five to ten million years ago, due to tectonic plate movement. Often pictured as a dusty, desolate wasteland, Baja in fact is a varied landscape that ranges from rolling hills of oak and olive trees in the northern wine country, through 250 miles of strange, endemic Boojum tree forests to the spectacular ocean views of Cabo. Three thousand miles of coastline offer first class fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and whale-watching at the shallow Pacific Ocean gray whale nursery lagoons.
The peninsula is divided into two states of roughly the same size, Baja California to the north, and Baja California Sur to the south. The northern state is home to Mexico's wine industry, and botanic wonders like the Boojum trees, tall plants that look like inverted carrots. The Boojum forests fade by the time one reaches the border of Baja California Sur, but the southern state offers many attractions of its own. Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Scammon's Lagoon), Laguna San Ignacio and Magdalena Bay all lie in the south, where winter visitors can find as many as 2,000 California gray whales in these shallow-water nurseries.
Birders have much to find in Baja, as well. Although hummingbirds are less prolific here than in mainland Mexico, seven species are regularly found, including the one endemic to the peninsula, the Xantus'.
The Hummingbirds of Baja California
Two species have been recorded in Baja as rare vagrants, the Green Violet Ear and the Broad-billed, but neither of these is likely to be seen. Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds migrate through the northern state, where nesting Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Calliope can also be found. Anna's Hummingbird is found in both states, mostly in the winter, having moved south from California, while Costa's Hummingbirds can be found throughout both states year-round.
Baja's endemic hummingbird, the Xantus', barely ventures into the northern state's southeast corner, but otherwise is a resident of Baja California Sur, and is found mostly in the peninsula's southern tip and along its eastern coast.
The Xantus' Hummingbird (Basilinna xantusii)
The Xantus' Hummingbird (Basilinna xantusii) is a striking and beautiful medium-sized hummer with a straight red to red-based bill. Like its close relative, the White-eared Hummingbird (Basilinna leucotis), the Xantus' has a sharply contrasting white post-ocular stripe and black auricular mask, diagnostic markings that are present in both sexes and all ages. The male has a bright red bill with a black tip, while the red on immature and female bills is confined to the base. The male's throat is iridescent green, compared with the female's light cinnamon throat. Crown and nape are golden to emerald on both birds, and cinnamon coloration is found in undertail and uppertail coverts.
The Xantus' nests in scrub and oak in the southern mountains, and is found to sea level. The birds generally perch low, often in the open, and are enthusiastic visitors to hummingbird feeders. Documented vagrants outside of Baja are few, with one reported in San Diego in 1986, and an unsuccessfully nesting female in Ventura, California, in 1988. Amazingly, a female was also documented in the winter of 1997 in Gibsons, British Columbia, incredibly far from home.
The hummingbird's species name is after John Xantus, a Hungarian expatriate who moved to the United States in 1851, where he developed an interest in natural history and became an avid collector for Spencer Baird, a Smithsonian zoologist. Xantus collected numerous specimens in Mexico, and had a number of plant and animal species named after him, including the hummingbird. In Spanish, the bird's name is Colibri de Xantus.
Baja California as a Birding Destination
Baja, best known for the condominium complexes at Cabo San Lucas, is a tourist destination with much more to offer than sunbathing, fishing and golf. It should be of special interest to birders, with the Xantus' Hummingbird topping the list of targeted speciies.
For more information about Hummingbirds and Baja California, see the following articles:
- Whale Watching in the Lagoons of Baja California
- The Boojum Tree Forests of Baja California, Mexico
- How to Make, Store and Use Hummingbird Food
- Which Kind of Hummingbird Feeder is Best?
- A Review of Three of the Best Hummingbird Feeders
- How Many Hummingbird Feeders Should be Used in One Yard?
- Where Should Hummingbird Feeders be Hung?
- The Costa's Hummingbird, Brilliant Purple Hummer of the Southwest
- The Rufous Hummingbird, Aggressive Copper-colored Bully
- The Calliope Hummingbird, Smallest Bird in North America
References:
Howell, Steve N. G., (2003), Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691116032
Williamson, Sheri L., (2001), A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America, Houghton Mifflin Co., ISBN 0618024956
Howell, Steve N. G. and Webb, Sophie, (1995), A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198540124
Bob Bowers - A lifelong naturalist and amateur ornithologist, Bob's avocation is studying, photographing and writing about birds.
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