Mostly Hummingbirds

This is a blog post mostly about hummingbirds. We have been trying to find some hummingbirds recently as August is a prime time for hummers in South East Arizona. There are supposedly 13 or 14 different species that you can see at various places near here. This post will only show a few species and we will post again later in August if we can find more. There are some fun pictures here.

Broad-billed Hummingbird – Showing the male’s red and black bill, the emerald colored body, and the bright sapphire colored throat. They can be found in South Eastern Arizona in the summer.

This image is of another Broad-billed at a feeder. Not sure what is the situation with the wing feathers, he seems to be missing a few as we will see in some subsequent images.

Here is a Juvenile Male Broad-billed Hummingbird. You can see the coloration on the throat developing. Note all the wing feathers and their arrangement compared to the previous image.

Black-chinned Female Hummingbird. The bill is solid back, there is no orange coloration. The white tips on the tail feathers and the light subtle markings on the throat indicate a female Black-chinned. There is a small white comma shape behind the eye not the longer white streak as seen on the Broad-billed.

We would imagine that many of you have hummingbird feeders and see them chasing each other around. In many cases they are trying to protect the food source from other individuals. Some species can be much more aggressive than others; here we see a female Black-chinned and an immature Broad-billed having a discussion around the feeder.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird – This is another summer visitor to South Eastern Arizona. They have an unmistakable long white neck, throat and underside. Also note the orange bill with the back tip. The violet crown for which they are named does not show up in this image because of the shadows and location of the feeder back in the trees.

Hummingbird – What – Wait – For those of you not ornithologically inclined this is actually not a hummingbird, it is a female Gila Woodpecker. They are often seen at feeders and can drink from them with their long tongue.

Here is a young Black-chinned Hummingbird. The subtle patterning on the chest, the bill size and structure, and the overall coloration indicate a Black-chinned Juvenile.

Here is just an interesting image of a male juvenile Broad-billed. Sure seems to have long wings.

This is a female Broad-billed Hummingbird. Note the orange coloration on the bill. There are no markings on the neck or chest. She might be looking up to see if someone is going to attack.

This is a little different view of a Female Black-chinned Hummingbird. Note the subtle markings on the throat. The end of the beak gets lost in the blackness of the background.

Here we see more quarreling at the feeder. They are two juvenile Broad-billed Hummingbirds going at each other. It was really dark back in the trees where they were having their discussion.

This image concludes the brief discussion on Hummingbirds. A Male Broad-billed is leaving the area.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at some Hummingbirds. We will keep looking for more of them to photograph and share with you. They are a lot of fun to watch.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best – George & Deanna