Ruby-throated Hummingbird – Feeding on oleanderArchilochus colubris July – Texas L=3.75” ...... WS=4.5”...... WT=0.12 oz Order: Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) Hummingbirds have very small feet and legs that are poorly adapted to walking or hopping. Consequently, they fly everywhere including to simply change their perch. It is this characteristic that led to the name Apodiformes as “apodi-” translates literally to “without feet”. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird in the Eastern United States and Canada. During their migration many individuals fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of approximately 500 miles. This requires fattening to nearly double their body weight before the migration.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird – Hovering before feedingSelasphorus platycerus September – New Mexico L=4” ...... WS=5.25”...... WT=0.13 oz Order: Apodiformes (Swifts and Hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) The Broad-tailed Hummingbird breeds at high elevations in the southern and central Rocky Mountains, eastern California, and Mexico. One identifying characteristic is the male’s shrill buzzing sound that occurs during flight. This buzzing is due to tapered outer feathers on their wings that buzz when air passes through them. Like all hummingbirds, Broad-tailed 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 .
Rufous Hummingbird – Hovering before feedingSelasphorus rufous September – New Mexico 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. In these two photographs the Rufous Hummingbird chased the Broad-tailed Hummingbird from the feeding site.
