Figure 335. A resident of Baja California Sur, Xantus’s Hummingbird was hardly expected to reach California. Yet in early 1988 this female, photographed on 31 January, appeared in Ventura, Ventura County, and twice attempted to nest during a stay that lasted until 27 March 1988 (1988-065; Arnold Small).

 

 

 

 

 

 

XANTUS’S HUMMINGBIRD Hylocharis xantusii (Lawrence, 1860)

Accepted: 2 (100%)	Treated in Appendix H: no
Not accepted: 0	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 0	Color image: none

This small hummingbird is endemic to the southern Baja California Peninsula, including islands in the Gulf of California. Concentrations have been recorded north to 27°36’N in the Sierra de San Francisco, northern Baja California Sur. Males congregate there in autumn and are joined by females when late summer rains create suitable nesting conditions (e.g., Howell and Howell 2000). Bryant (1889) reported this species north to around latitude 29°N, and since 1986 up to two have been found during multiple falls on the peninsula’s Pacific slope at around latitude 28°30’N. This hummingbird has not wandered as readily as some southern species, although a female managed to reach Gibsons, British Columbia, and to survive there from 16 November 1997 to 21 September 1998 (Toochin 1997, Campbell et al. 2001). After initially withholding endorsement on the basis of questionable natural occurrence, the Provincial Bird Records Committee eventually accepted this record.

Many years after the CBRC accepted the record of a widely seen female Xantus’s Hummingbird in Ventura (Ketner and Ketner 1988, Hainebach 1992; Figure 335), the Committee re-reviewed and accepted the 27 December 1986 sight record of a male at Yaqui Well in San Diego County. The Ventura female twice attempted to nest during her stay, but the eggs failed to hatch. The species of the potential mate is unknown.