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Black-chinned Hummingbird

From Opus

Photo by Marysan
Photo by Marysan
Archilochus alexandri

Contents

[edit] Identification

3 1/4-3 3/4" (8-10 cm). A small hummingbird.
Male green above with iridescent black chin underlined by violet-purple throat band.
Female green above with white throat and breast, buff sides, and white-tipped outer tail feathers.

[edit] Similar Species

In East, female difficult to distinguish in field from female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Structure like Ruby-throated: slender, small-headed, and thin-necked. Female distinguished from similar species by overall shape, long bill, flat forehead, drab greyish colour and longer wings with distinct club shaped primaries.

Female HelenBDavis Mountains, West Texas, USA
Female
HelenB
Davis Mountains, West Texas, USA

[edit] Distribution

Breeds from British Columbia south throughout West to Mexico and central Texas.
Winters in Mexico, though a small number of Black-chinned winter along the Gulf Coast of the USA.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

[edit] Habitat

Mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

Two white eggs in a nest of fluffy plant wool and lichens woven together with spider webs, placed in a shrub or low tree.

Male, showing violet-purple throat bandPhoto by Larry D Smith
Male, showing violet-purple throat band
Photo by Larry D Smith


The male Black-chinned, like all hummingbirds, maintains a mating and feeding territory in spring. He courts his female with a dazzling aerial display involving a pendulum-like flight pattern. When mating interest wanes, the male often takes up residence elsewhere, near a good food supply. Later, when plant blooming and insect swarming subside, the birds move south.

[edit] Vocalisation

Voice: A low tup.

[edit] References

  1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

[edit] External Links

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