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You are here... (Hummingbirds) > Broad-Tailed Hummingbird |
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 Adult Male © Charles W. Melton www.enature.com |
 Adult Female © Charles W. Melton www.enature.com |
 Adult Female with Nestlings www.wikipedia.org |
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Broad-Tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)...The Broad-tailed hummingbirds are medium sized - the mature adults are 3-3/4 inches to 4 inches in length. Male and female Broad-taileds both have iridescent green backs, crowns, and white breasts. In flight their wings produce a distinct trilling noise which is a key identifier of this species. The male has a brilliant red iridescent gorget (throat patch), and a mostly black tail. The female is much duller with rust-colored, mottled flanks and underside. She has a white chin and throat with varying amounts of thin dark streaks. Her tail has rufous bases and a band of white on the tips of the outer tail feathers. Juvenile Broad-taileds are similar to the adult females in size and coloring. Young males develop a colored throat patch by their first breeding season. The summer range of the Broad-tailed hummingbird extends across mountain forests and meadows throughout the Western United States, specifically the Great Basin region and southwards; the resident birds range from the cordilleran mountain areas of northern Mexico as far south as Guatemala. At summer's end the northerly birds migrate and overwinter in the southern part of their range. This species is somewhat vagrant, especially wintering birds, and is regularly seen in Guatemala and El Salvador where it is known to frequent essential shade coffee plantations. Although this species is not considered endangered, and has adapted well to human-modified habitat, deforestation in their winter ranges has caused considerable concern. Amazingly, this has prompted "bird friendly" movements around the world. One of the most beneficial and widely recognized is the return to "shade-grown" coffee plantations that provide food and shelter to wintering hummingbirds.
Nests are small cups of plant fibers woven together and bound to a branch with collected spider webs. The female lays two plain white eggs, that she alone will incubate for 16 days. Young broad-tailed hummingbirds fledge about 23 days after hatching. Female Broad-tailed hummingbirds often nest in the same tree or bush year after year, a phenomenon known as philopatry (faithfulness to the previous home area). Incredibly, she will return to the same branch and even build a new nest right on top of previous ones.
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Broad-Tailed Hummingbird Video... "Broad-Tailed Hummingbird" |
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