Rufous Hummingbird
Selasphorus rufus
Summary 6
The Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is a small hummingbird, about 8 cm long (3 inches) with a long, straight and very slender bill. The female is slightly larger than the male.
Distribution 7
Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, is found in western and coastal North America from March through August, and migrates to Mexico in the winter months of October through February (Johnsgard 1983).
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Morphology 8
The adult male rufous has a white breast with greenish back and crown. The back is sometimes glossed with metallic bronze-green. The pileum (the top of the head from the bill to the nape) is bronze-green, and the gorget (collar) is bright orange-red. The chin and throat is a shiny metallic scarlet color. The bill is long, straight, thin, black or dark brown in color. The feet are a dusky color. The adult female rufous has a metallic bronze-green back, and the pileum is a little duller than the male rufous. From the chin and the throat, down to the breast of the female, is a dull white color. Rufous Hummingbird has a body length of about 7.3 to 9.1 cm (2.87 to 3.58 in), and weighs around 2.8 g to 4.0 g (0.097 to 0.141 Oz). Unlike other birds that have large sound-producing muscles extending from the windpipe to the chest bone,the rufous has two sets of small vocal muscles in the trachea (Johnsgard 1983; Toops 1992; Sayre 1999).
Range mass: 2.8 to 4 g.
Average mass: 3.37 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.06853 W.
Habitat 9
During breeding season, Rufous Hummingbirds are found in forests, on seed-tree harvest units, riparian shrub, and spruce-fir habitats. During the winter, it lives wherever flowers are present. It migrates to lowland stream bottoms, foothill brush land, seacoast and high mountain meadows (Johnsgard 1983; Paige et al. 1999).
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; mountains
Migration 10
Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
Route from Mexico to Alaska is longest migration of any North American hummingbird (True 1993). Stopover habitats are critical for accumulating resources required for migration.
Migration patterns coincide with weather patterns and flowering times (Calder 1993). Rufous hummingbirds migrate northward along the Pacific Coast and through lowlands west of the Rockies in winter and early spring (Calder 1993), arriving in California in late February-early March, Oregon by March 1, Alaska by mid-April. Southward migration is chiefly through mountains of Cascades/Sierras and Rocky Mountains. Southward migrants were observed in Colorado over a 6-week period in July and early August (Calder 1993). Arrival in southern Arizona/New Mexico occurs by late July/August and in central Mexico by August/September (Baltosser 1989; Calder 1993). Males migrate before females and juveniles (Phillips et al. 1964).
Sources and Credits
- (c) Andrew Reding, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/13836386184/
- (c) Rick Leche - Photography, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3493548786_56c46086c2.jpg
- (c) Rick Leche - Photography, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/4559201653_0829c9427f.jpg
- (c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/3726704844_e3ee0ec276.jpg
- (c) faerthen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by faerthen
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selasphorus_rufus
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31422243
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31422245
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31422244
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28952122
