Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully…

Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully through my days, seeing beauty in everything.

Quotation by Amethyst Wyldfyre

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Black-chinned Hummingbird

The Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) is a small hummingbird.

Their breeding habitat is open semi-arid areas near water in the western United States, northern Mexico and southern British Columbia.

The female builds a well-camouflaged nest in a protected location in a shrub or tree using plant fiber, spider webs and lichens.

Identification Tips:
• Length: 3 inches
• Long, straight, thin bill
• Small hummingbird
• Bright green back and crown
• White underparts with greenish flanks

Adult male:
• Iridescent purple gorget at lower throat
• Black face, chin, and upper throat
• Entirely dark tail

Female/Immature:
• White chin and throat with variable amounts of thin dark streaking
• Dark tail with white tips on outer tail feathers

Similar species:
Males unmistakable with a good view. Females are similar to a number of other female hummingbirds, and are best told from the Calliope Hummingbird and species in the genus Selasphorus by their lack of rufous on the flanks and in the tail. Anna’s Hummingbirds are larger and have grayer chests, while Costa’s Hummingbirds differ only in subtleties of facial pattern and tail pattern. Black-chinned Hummingbird females are not safely separable from female Ruby-throateds except in the hand. Best told from all species except Ruby-throated Hummingbird by call.

Black-chinned Hummingbirds are migratory and spend most of the winter in Mexico.

These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue or catch insects on the wing. While collecting nectar, they also assist in plant pollination.

Because of their small size, Black-chinned Hummingbirds are vulnerable to insect-eating birds and animals. This bird is fairly common in its breeding range.

Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully through my days, seeing beauty in everything.

Quotation by Amethyst Wyldfyre

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Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully through my days, seeing beauty in everything.

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