- Archilochus alexandri
Identification
3 1/4-3 3/4" (8-10 cm). A small hummingbird.
Male
- Green above
- iridescent black chin underlined by violet-purple throat band above white
- Rest of underside is mostly green and grey
- The wings of the adult male makes a soft whistle in flight except in moult.
Female
- Green above
- White throat and breast
- Buff sides
- Club shaped primaries
- White-tipped outer tail feathers
- The head is rather grey with a Post-ocular spot the main distinguishing character.
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.
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.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of flower nectar, small insects and spiders. They will come to feeding stations for sugar water.
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.
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.
Vocalisation
Voice: A low tup.
References
- 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/
- Baltosser, W. H. and S. M. Russell (2020). Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bkchum.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-chinned Hummingbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-chinned_Hummingbird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
