• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Allen's Hummingbird - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo © by Zerb21
Palos Verdes Peninsula, California, 1 March 2008
Selasphorus sasin

Identification

L. 3-3 1/2 in (8-9 cm)
Very small hummingbird

Female
Photo © by raulroa
Whittier Narrows Nature Center South El Monte, California, 26 March 2007

Male

  • Iridescent green crown and back
  • Rufous rump and tail
  • Bright, iridescent copper-red gorget
    • Appears dark when not in direct sunlight
  • White breast
  • Rufous sides

Female

  • Bronze-green above, including central tail feathers
  • White-tipped rufous outer tail feathers
  • Flecked throat
  • White underparts with rust tinge on flanks

Similar Species

See Rufous Hummingbird

Distribution

Female
Photo © by Redwing
Walnut, California, 17 June 2008

North America:
Breeds along the coast from southern Oregon to southern California.

Resident in southern California. Also winters in Mexico.

Taxonomy

There are two subspecies:

Subspecies [1]

  • S. s. sasin:
  • S. s. sedentarius:

Habitat

Coastal chaparral, brushland, and edges of redwood forests. Visits garden feeders.

Behaviour

Breeding

The 2 white eggs are laid in a tiny, tightly woven cup placed on a sheltered branch.

Vocalisation

A low chup, and an excited zeeee chuppity-chup

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Clark, C. J. and D. E. Mitchell (2020). Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.allhum.01
  3. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2019. Allen%27s_Hummingbird in: All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/ Accessed on 15May 2020.
  4. Howell, S.N.G. (2003) Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691116032
  5. Myers, B., Rankin, D.T., Burns, K.J., & Clark, C.J. (2019). Behavioral and morphological evidence of an Allen's × Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin × S. rufus) hybrid zone in southern Oregon and northern California. The Auk, 136, 1-24.

Recommended Citation

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

Back
Top