Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Selasphorus platycercus
At a Glance
The metallic wing-trill of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbird is a characteristic sound of summer in the mountain west. This sound is often heard as a flying bird zings past unseen. The birds are seen easily enough, however, at masses of flowers in the high meadows, where they hover and dart around the blossoms, often fighting and chasing each other away from choice patches.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Hummingbirds
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Arroyos and Canyons, Desert and Arid Habitats, Forests and Woodlands, High Mountains, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets
Region
California, Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas
Behavior
Flitter, Hovering, Rapid Wingbeats
Population
9.800.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Travels early in both spring and fall, with many moving north in early March, south in early August. Adult males migrate before females and young in both spring and fall. Tends to move north through the lowlands, south through the mountains.
Description
4-4 1/2" (10-11 cm). Male has rose throat, green back and sides, some rusty in tail. See Ruby-throated (east) and young male Anna's Hummingbird (west). Female green above, buff on sides; like female Rufous Hummingbird but has larger tail.
Size
About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Green, Orange, Red, White
Wing Shape
Narrow, Rounded, Short
Tail Shape
Multi-pointed, Notched, Rounded, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
Call is a sharp chick.
Call Pattern
Flat
Call Type
Chirp/Chip, Trill
Habitat
Mountain meadows and forests. Breeds mostly in mountains, up to over 10,000 feet elevation. Mostly in rather open forest, especially near streams, including pine-oak and pinyon-juniper woods, and associations of spruce, Douglas-fir, and aspen. Migrants occur in all semi-open habitats of mountains and also make stopovers in lowlands.
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Behavior
Eggs
2, rarely 1-3. White. Incubation is by female only, 16-19 days.
Young
Female feeds the young. Nest stretches as the young birds grow. Age of young at first flight about 21-26 days.
Feeding Behavior
At flowers, usually feeds while hovering, extending its bill and long tongue deep into the center of the flower. At feeders, may either hover or perch. When feeding on small insects, may fly out and grab them in midair, or hover to pluck them from foliage. Also sometimes takes spiders or trapped insects from spider webs.
Diet
Mostly nectar and insects. Takes nectar from flowers, favoring red tubular flowers, and will feed on tiny insects as well. Also attracted to sugar-water mixtures in hummingbird feeders.
Nesting
Male defends territory by perching high, scanning for and then chasing intruders. In courtship display, male repeatedly climbs high in the air (up to 60 feet) and then dives, with a loud wing-trill. Nest site is in a tree, on a near-horizontal twig or branch, typically sheltered from above by an overhanging branch. Usually 4-20 feet above the ground, sometimes higher. Nest (built by female) is a neatly constructed cup of spider and plant down, with the outer edge covered with lichen, moss, bits of bark.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Still common and widespread, but surveys indicate declining numbers in recent decades.
Climate Threats Facing the Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.