Name That Hummingbird

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Adult Male… www.wikipedia.org

Adult Female… www.wikipedia.org

Juveniles on nest, ready to fledge… Marguerite Gregory © California Academy of Sciences – calphotos.berkeley.edu

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri)…

The Black-chinned hummingbirds are small – the mature adults are only 3 inches in length.

The male Black-Chinned Hummingbirds have a metallic green back and crown, white underparts with greenish flanks, and an entirely black forked tail, face, and chin. His upper throat is black, but his lower throat and gorget are iridescent purple. His bill is long, straight, and thin.

The female Black-Chinned Hummingbirds also have metallic green back and crown, white underparts with greenish flanks. She has a white chin and throat that has variable amounts of thin dark streaking, and no throat patch. Her tail is dark and rounded, with white tips on the outer feathers.

The juvenile Black-Chinned Hummingbirds are identical to the adult females.

Bird watchers are cautioned that the female Black-chinned are very similar to the female Ruby-throated hummingbirds. So much so that the only sure way to differentiate the two is in the hand.

Black-chinned hummingbirds are migratory and spend most of the winter in Mexico.

Their breeding habitat is open, semi-arid places near water in northern Mexico, throughout the western US, and into southern British Columbia, Canada. They are fairly common in their breeding range.

Only the female Allen’s hummingbird raises the young. She constructs a well camouflaged nest in a protected location in a shrub or tree using plant fibers, lichens, and spider webs.

She lays two white jelly-bean sized eggs, which she will incubate for 13 to 16 days. The young will leave the nest about 21 days after hatching. Amazingly, she will continue to feed the fledglings for several more weeks, then the young are left to fend for themselves.

They are known to have two and occasionally three broods each year.

Because of their small size, they can be vulnerable to animals and larger birds.

 

Acknowledgements: www.wikipedia.com www.usgs.gov

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Video… “Hummingbirds Competing For Food"

Thanks to Dabna posting this video on www.YouTube.com

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Black-Chinned Hummingbird… Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) Map Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) This survey is typically performed in June by volunteers on over 4000 bird counts. The counts are done by vehicle during the morning. Many nocturnal or less vocal species are not well surveyed by the BBS. Data from this survey is used to generate the BBS maps. Courtesy of www.usgs.gov

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Black-Chinned Hummingbird… Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Map Christmas Bird Count (CBC) This survey is typically performed in one calendar day, any time from mid-December to early January by volunteers. Birds are counted in an area with a 15 mile radius. Data from this survey is used to generate the CBC maps. Courtesy of www.usgs.gov

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