Rufous Hummingbird - BirdForum Opus

Adult male
Photo by Raul Padilla
Epazoyucan, Mexico, Aug 2012

Selasphorus rufus

Identification

Female
Photo by sorochan
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada, May 2011

3.75 in (9.5 cm)
Adult male

• Rufous crown, tail, and sides; back bright coppery rufous, occasionally with some green
• Orange-red gorget
• White breast
  

Adult female

• Green back and crown
• White breast
• Streaked throat often with a small central gorget
• Rufous sides and base of tail feathers
• White tips on outer tail feathers

Similar Species

Almost identical to Allen's Hummingbird, the male of which has a green back, but does not share much range. The females are very similar to female Allen's Hummingbirds and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.

Distribution

Western United States and Canada in mountainous areas. Sometimes strays into eastern U.S. Winters in mostly Central America, but banding research has shown that more and more are wintering in the southern USA from Texas east to Florida.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Female left, male right
Photo by ducbucln
Kelseyville, California, April 2018

Open areas and forest edges. Gardens on wintering grounds in the south of the USA.

Behaviour

Feisty, will often chase other hummers, specially while defending a food source - be it hummingbird feeder or flowering plants.

Diet

Their diet consists of nectar and insects. They are able to survive in sub-freezing temperatures if food is available, they have changed migration patterns to take advantage of feeding stations.

Breeding

The female builds a nest in a protected location in a shrub or conifer.

Gallery

Click on images to enlarge

• 

  Immature male before his gorget has developed
  Photo by HelenB
  Wintering in SE Texas, USA, January 2007

• 

  Immature male
  Photo by janruss
  Edmonds Washington, USA, August 2006

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. hummzinger

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Rufous Hummingbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous_Hummingbird

External Links

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