Front:
29
JUN
15
1992
20066
Balke
Calliope Hummingbird
DC
Back:
CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD
First Day of Issue: June 15, 1992
First Issue Location: Washington, D.C.
Scarcely three inches long, the Calliope Hummingbird is
the smallest bird in North America. It also holds the
distinction of laying the smallest eggs, less than one third
of an inch in diameter and one half inch in length in a nest
no larger than an American quarter. Size is a quick clue
to the bird's identity, but the male Calliope is also the only
hummingbird that has a red-and-white barred throat -
known as a gorget. The female is easily confused with the
female Rufous and Broad-tails, but her short bill and size
aids the bird-watcher. In the summer, the Calliope Hum-
mingbird may be seen feeding at timberline in the
Rockies and Sierra Nevada, daintily sipping, hovering
and zipping from plant to plant. The high mountain holds
are favorite haunts of the little bird, but it can also be
found in the low country, from canyons to grasslands. As
with the Rufous Hummingbird, the Calliope's migration
route is egg-shaped. In the spring, the little bird will fly up
the coast of California and Oregon to summer as far north
as British Columbia and Alberta.
No. 92-47
First Day of Issue Postcard Collection™
©1992 Fleetwood®, Cheyenne, WY 82008-0001
Original painting for the First Day of Issue Postcard by Don Balke
Fleetwood
OFFICIAL FIRST DAY OF ISSUE POSTCARD
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETYⓇ
