Hummingbird native to California is wintering in Princeton, only 2nd recorded sighting in Illinois

About 20 minutes before sunrise Scott Harp gets a visitor at his Princeton home.

For the past 82 days, Harp has been greeted regularly by an Anna’s hummingbird, a species native to the Pacific coast.

His encounter with the hummingbird is only the second recorded sighting in Illinois and has garnered attention in the birding world, attracting its crowd of spectators with cameras to view the rarity.

Harp has kept a log of the visitors, counting 166 spectators since the sighting was confirmed and shared with the birdwatching community. A couple from the United Kingdom visiting the United States was among the visitors.

“It’s gained a lot of attention,” Harp said. “Our yard is a certified wildlife habitat, and we’ve had migrating birds pass through before, but nothing like this.”

Harp said he’s not sure how the Anna’s hummingbird ended up 1,800 miles from its home and found his sugar water feeder, but the small bird was fortunate Harp is always prepared for vagrants. He first spotted the hummingbird Oct. 17 and received an identification of its species on Oct. 26.

“We keep our feeder filled until the second week of November in case we get any late migratory birds,” Harp said.

Harp has named his visitor – Frost.

The Princeton resident is hopeful the hummingbird, a first-year male, will survive the Illinois winter. Harp keeps a heat lamp on his feeder to ensure the sugar water doesn’t freeze. The hummingbird also enters into a hibernating-like state called torpor during the evenings to conserve energy and heat. Harp said the bird arrives just before sunrise, feeds and becomes full of energy.

Harp said there was another Anna’s hummingbird spotted in Columbus, Ohio and he’s been in communication with the resident where that hummingbird is feeding to compare notes and share observations.

According to the National Audubon Society, “the Anna’s hummingbird is a permanent resident of the Pacific Coast, staying through the winter in many areas where no other hummingbirds are present. It is more vocal than most hummingbirds, males have a buzzy song, often given while perched. In recent decades the species has expanded its range, probably helped along by flowers and feeders in suburban gardens; it now nests north to British Columbia and east to Arizona.”

“This has been a blessing in the middle of winter,” said Geraldine Woodlief, a Princeton resident familiar with the hummingbird’s story. “To have it visit for 82 days and to have cars lining up to come out here and see it, it’s been special.”

Harp, who has had Rufous hummingbirds and other broad-tailed birds visit his feeders, acknowledged the unique situation, but also understands the commitment ahead.

“It’s really been something special, but it comes with responsibility,” he said.

Each morning, before sunrise, the bird feeder will need to be ready.