Species
Black-chinned hummingbird
Archilochus alexandri
A western hummingbird that winters in small numbers at Georgia's feeders.
At a glance
- Size
- About 8 to 9 cm long
- Weight
- About 3 g
- Habitat
- Gardens and feeders in winter
- Diet
- Nectar and small insects
- In Georgia
- A rare but regular winter visitor
- Voice
- Soft chips; a dry buzz in flight
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Male
- Black throat with a thin iridescent violet band at the bottom
- Female
- Green above and pale below, very like a female ruby-throated hummingbird; often pumps its tail when hovering
- Told apart from
- Ruby-throated hummingbird, which is almost identical in females and absent in winter
- Told apart from
- Rufous hummingbird, which shows orange-brown
- Where to look
- Garden feeders from November to March
Behaviour
Black-chinned hummingbirds breed in the West and winter mostly in Mexico, but a few travel east to the Gulf states each autumn. They pump their tails almost constantly while hovering.
Why they matter
Hummingbirds that winter in the Southeast are a recent discovery, made possible by people who kept feeders up in winter and allowed licensed banders to study the birds. The black-chinned is one of several western species that do this regularly.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A small cup of plant down and spider silk, in the West
Eggs — Two
Incubation — About 12 to 16 days
Nestlings — Fledge at about 21 days
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- A hummingbird at a feeder in winter is a western visitor, not a ruby-throat that forgot to leave; keeping the feeder clean and unfrozen helps it.
Misconceptions
- Winter hummingbirds are lost and will die. Many are healthy western species that winter here on purpose.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Wintering at feeders | Wintering | Leaving for the West | Breeding in the West | Breeding in the West | Breeding in the West | Breeding in the West | Moving south | Moving south | A few arriving in the Southeast | Wintering | Wintering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 35 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
Canada
Mexico
- Aguascalientespassing through
- Baja Californiabreeding
- Chihuahuabreeding
- Coahuilabreeding
- Colimain winter
- Durangobreeding
- Guanajuatopassing through
- Guerreroin winter
- Jaliscoin winter
- Michoacanin winter
- Morelosin winter
- Nayaritin winter
- Nuevo Leonbreeding
- Queretaropassing through
- San Luis Potosipassing through
- Sinaloain winter
- Sonorabreeding
- Zacatecaspassing through
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal