Unlike most northern temperate hummingbirds, the male Anna's hummingbird sings during courtship. The song is thin and squeaky, interspersed with buzzes and chirps, and is drawn to over 10 seconds in duration. During the breeding season, males can be observed performing an aerial display dive over their territories. The males also use the dive display to drive away rivals or intruders of other species. When a female flies onto a male's territory, he rises up about before diving over the recipient. As he approaches the bottom of the dive, the male reaches an average speed of , which is 385 body lengths per second. At the bottom of the dive, the male travels , and produces a loud sound described by some as an "explosive squeak" with his outer tail-feathers.