Buff-bellied Hummingbird

The Buff-bellied Hummingbird is the characteristic hummingbird of the far southern Texas Gulf Coast, where it can be found year-round in brushy habitats. Both sexes look similar, with an iridescent green throat and chest, a warm buff to cinnamon-colored belly, a rufous tail, and a bright red bill with a black tip. This combination of colors, along with its year-round presence in a region where most other hummingbirds are only seasonal visitors, makes it a distinctive and locally cherished species.

Key Field Marks

• Iridescent green throat and upper chest
• Buffy to cinnamon-colored belly
• Rufous (reddish-brown) tail, conspicuous in flight
• Red bill with a black tip

Similar Species

• Rufous and Allen's Hummingbird females also show rufous in the tail but lack the buffy belly and red bill.
• Broad-billed Hummingbird has a red bill but a blue throat in males and gray, not buffy, underparts.
• Its year-round presence on the south Texas coast, combined with the buffy belly, is usually diagnostic within its range.

Habitat

Buff-bellied Hummingbirds favor subtropical woodland edges, brushy thickets, citrus groves, and residential gardens along the coast.

Range

In the United States they are largely resident along the southern Texas Gulf Coast, with their core range extending through the Yucatan Peninsula and eastern Mexico.

Migration

Unlike most U.S. hummingbirds, this species shows relatively little migratory movement, though some individuals wander northeastward along the Gulf Coast in fall and winter, occasionally reaching other southeastern states.

Behavior

Buff-bellied Hummingbirds are territorial around flowering shrubs and feeders and can be seen year-round in their core Texas range, unlike most other hummingbirds that pass through only seasonally.

Voice

Calls include sharp, dry chip and buzzy chattering notes given during territorial disputes.

Feeding

They feed on nectar from native shrubs such as Turk's cap and coral bean, as well as garden flowers and feeders, and take small insects for protein.

Nesting

Females build a small cup nest of plant fibers and spider silk in a shrub or low tree, and the species can nest across an extended season given its mild, subtropical habitat.