Broad-tailed Hummingbird

The Broad-tailed Hummingbird is a hardy species of the Rocky Mountain region, breeding at elevations up to and above 10,000 feet where nighttime temperatures can drop below freezing. Adult males show a brilliant rose-magenta gorget, a metallic green back and crown, and whitish underparts. Females lack the colorful throat, instead showing a green back, buffy sides, fine dark spotting on the throat, and rufous highlights in the tail.

One of the most useful identification clues is entirely acoustic: the male's wings produce a distinctive high-pitched, insect-like trilling sound in flight that can be heard well before the bird is seen.

Key Field Marks

• Male: rose-magenta gorget, green back and crown, white breast
• Female: green back, buffy flanks, spotted throat, rufous-edged tail
• Male's wings make a loud, cricket-like trilling sound in flight, unique among similar species
• Fairly large for a Selasphorus hummingbird with a proportionally broad, rounded tail

Similar Species

• Rufous and Allen's Hummingbird males have orange, not magenta, gorgets and more rufous overall coloring.
• Calliope Hummingbird is noticeably smaller with streaked (not solid) magenta gorget feathers.
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird overlaps little in range and has a red, not magenta-pink, gorget.

Habitat

This species breeds in mountain meadows, aspen groves, and open coniferous forest, typically at middle to high elevations, often near streams or wet meadows rich in wildflowers.

Range

It breeds throughout the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges from Idaho and Wyoming south through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico into Mexico and Guatemala.

Migration

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are medium- to long-distance migrants, wintering primarily in central Mexico and returning to their high-elevation breeding grounds by late spring.

Behavior

Males defend nectar-rich territories and perform steep, arcing display dives accompanied by their signature wing trill to court females and warn off rivals.

Voice

Besides the mechanical wing trill, both sexes give sharp "chip" and "tchip" call notes; there is no true song.

Feeding

They feed on nectar from a variety of high-elevation wildflowers, including scarlet gilia and penstemon, and catch small insects on the wing to supplement their diet, especially important for females raising young.

Nesting

Females build a compact nest of plant down and spider silk, often reused or built atop an old nest in successive years, saddled on a horizontal branch near water.