From Opus

Photo by Marysan

Archilochus alexandri

[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
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 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.

• List of references

[edit] External Links