Rufous Hummingbird – Male Selasphorus rufous August – Colorado L=3.75” ...... WS=4.5”...... WT=0.1 oz Order: Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) Rufous Hummingbirds breed farther north than any other hummingbird, as far north as Alaska. They migrate to Mexico which gives these birds the longest migration, measured in body lengths, of any known avian migration. They have unusually short wings with high wing loading for a hummingbird which could be an adaptation to allow for fast flight during the long migration. Rufous Hummingbirds are aggressive and generally will dominate other hummingbirds, such as the Broad-tailed Hummingbird, when they are in the same locale. This occurs during the Rufous’s migration which passes through the Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s summer territory before the Broad-tailed starts its migration.
Rufous Hummingbird – Female Selasphorus rufous August – Colorado L=3.75” ...... WS=4.5”...... WT=0.1 oz Order: Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds)
Black-chinned Hummingbird – Male Archilochus alexandri August – Colorado L=3.75” ...... WS=4.75”...... WT=0.12 oz......m>f Order: Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) Black-chinned Hummingbirds are normal. They are not the largest or smallest, not the most colorful or drabbest, and they do not have a special niche. Rather, they are noteworthy only in their broad distribution and abundance. All hummingbirds have a very long slender tongue. The tongue itself wraps around the back of the skull and then enters the oral cavity. This coil allows the tongues of hummingbirds to extend well beyond the typically long bill, sometimes as much as a full bill length beyond the bill itself.
