In our recent not-so-comprehensive rundown of Pacific Flyway hummingbirds, we didn't talk much about the Calliope Hummingbird, known to be North America's smallest breeding bird. It also holds the distinction of being the smallest avian long-distance migrant in the world, traveling back and forth from wintering grounds in southern Mexico to breeding grounds in eastern California, Oregon, Washington, and Canada. That's a long way to go for a bird that weighs less than three grams, which is less than two paperclips. We saw a fun post on the listserv today from Ann and Eric Brooks reporting a Calliope among several other hummingbirds, so we thought we'd bring you up to speed on what's happening with this very cool bird. Like the Rufous Hummingbird, most of the traffic we see during the spring is pass-through, so enjoy the Calliopes while you can. They started coming through in late March and we'll see lots of additional sightings throughout April. As we push into May and June, the birds will mostly be up north, although some will be breeding up in the cooler parts of our California mountains. Check out the eBird maps (below) from last year to get a picture of how they pass through:

Here's what things looked like at the end of April 2011. Lots of sightings popping up:

Now look what happened last May. Really starting to peak, but you can see them heading north:

Now look at June 2011. Bird concentrating in the CA mountains, with the others heading north:

(photo by Peter LaTourrette)