- Archilochus colubris
Identification
3 1/2" (9 cm). Needle-like bill, metallic green above, white below, buff sides, white-tipped outer tail feathers, brilliant, iridescent red throat which females and immature males lack. Averages shorter-billed and longer-tailed than Black-chinned Hummingbird with wing tip straighter and narrower.
Distribution
Southern Canada and USA; winters to Central America and rarely to the Caribbean.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Suburban gardens, parks, and woodlands.
Behaviour
2 white eggs are laid in a nest woven of plant down held together with spider silk and covered with lichens.
The diet includes nectar, but Ruby-throated Hummingbird can also be seen taking insects and tree sap from woodpecker (sapsucker) drilling and insects taken in flight.
