Photo 9542133, (c) cayenne s., all rights reserved, uploaded by cayenne s.

Attribution © cayenne s.
all rights reserved
Uploaded by cayennesweeney cayennesweeney
Source iNaturalist
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri)

Observer

cayennesweeney

Date

May 10, 2017 02:32 PM PDT

Description

Archilochus alexanri male. He was courting a female in a dense oak grove by performing a small-scale (2 meters at most) diving display that reminded me of a swinging pendulum. Then he would land on the branch above and mechanically rotate his head back and forth, possibly to flaunt his brilliant purple gorget. They never actually did copulate, although I didn't have time to wait, either, as I had to be somewhere and was in a bit of a hurry. I'm guessing they did, though. The weather was pretty drab and cloudy, with light sprinkles.

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