Calypte costae
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It breeds in the arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean climate zones of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, mainly in Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula. Like many hummingbirds in the region, it can be found on the Pacific coast, often visiting backyard hummingbird feeders and gardens with flowering plants, as well as in more wild ecosystems, such as the conifer and oak forests, chaparral, and high desert habitats found further inland. When not in the US, the species often winters in western Mexico.
Costa's hummingbird was formally described by the French ornithologist Jules Bourcier in 1839, and given the binomial name Ornismya costae; Bourcier chose the specific epithet to honour French nobleman (and fellow ornithologist) Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Marquis de Beauregard (1806–1864). The type locality is Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific west coast, of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Costa's hummingbird is presently placed in the genus Calypte, introduced in 1856 by John Gould. The species is monotypic, with no subspecies being currently... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Cabo Pulmo National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Costa's Hummingbird sighting in Death Valley National Park on a given day, based on 203 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 46th most-seen of the 213 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Costa's Hummingbird in Death Valley National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Costa's Hummingbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Costa's Hummingbird sightings, Death Valley National Park ranks 6th at about 20%. The best odds are in Bahía de Loreto National Park (Mexico, about 50%), Cabo Pulmo National Park (Mexico, about 40%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Costa's Hummingbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Death Valley National Park (203 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
