- Archilochus alexandri
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.
In East, female difficult to distinguish in field from female Ruby-throated. 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
Monotypic[1]
Habitat
Mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.
Behaviour
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, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-chinned Hummingbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-chinned_Hummingbird
