{"id":8075,"date":"2025-08-29T00:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=8075"},"modified":"2025-08-29T00:47:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T00:47:49","slug":"hummingbird-native-to-california-is-wintering-in-princeton-only-2nd-recorded-sighting-in-illinois-shawlocal-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=8075","title":{"rendered":"Hummingbird native to California is wintering in Princeton, only 2nd recorded sighting in Illinois – shawlocal.com"},"content":{"rendered":"


Scott Harp of Princeton has had an Anna’s hummingbird, which is native to California, visit his feeder for the past 82 days. It is only the second recorded sighting of an Anna’s hummingbird in Illinois. <\/span>(Photo provided by Scott Harp)
About 20 minutes before sunrise, Scott Harp gets a visitor at his Princeton<\/a> home.
For the past 82 days, Harp has been greeted regularly by an Anna\u2019s 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 a 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 U.S. was among the visitors.
\u201cIt\u2019s gained a lot of attention,\u201d Harp said. \u201cOur yard is a certified wildlife habitat, and we\u2019ve had migrating birds pass through before, but nothing like this.\u201d
Harp said he\u2019s not sure how the Anna\u2019s hummingbird ended up 1,800 miles from its home and found his sugar water feeder, but the small bird was fortunate that Harp is always prepared for vagrants. He first spotted the hummingbird Oct. 17 and received an identification of its species Oct. 26.
\u201cWe keep our feeder filled until the second week of November in case we get any late migratory birds,\u201d 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\u2019t 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\u2019s hummingbird spotted in Columbus, Ohio, and he\u2019s been in communication with the resident where that hummingbird is feeding to compare notes and share observations.
According to the National Audubon Society, \u201cthe Anna\u2019s 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.\u201d
\u201cThis has been a blessing in the middle of winter,\u201d said Geraldine Woodlief, a Princeton resident familiar with the hummingbird\u2019s story. \u201cTo have it visit for 82 days and to have cars lining up to come out here and see it, it\u2019s been special.\u201d
Harp, who has had Rufous hummingbirds and other broad-tailed birds visit his feeders, acknowledged the unique situation, but also understands the commitment ahead.
\u201cIt\u2019s really been something special, but it comes with responsibility,\u201d he said.
Each morning, before sunrise, the bird feeder will need to be ready.
Derek Barichello is the news editor for The Times in Ottawa and NewsTribune in La Salle, part of Shaw Local News Network, covering La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties. He covers local and breaking news in the areas of government, education, business and crime and courts, among others.<\/p>\n

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Scott Harp of Princeton has had an Anna’s hummingbird, which is native to California, visit his feeder for the past 82 days. It is only the second recorded sighting of an Anna’s hummingbird in Illinois. (Photo provided by Scott Harp)About 20 minutes before sunrise, Scott Harp gets a visitor at his Princeton home.For the past 82 days, Harp has been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}