Species: Selasphorus rufus

Rufous Hummingbird
Species
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Aves

    Order

    Apodiformes

    Family

    Trochilidae

    Genus

    Selasphorus

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Zumbador Rufo - colibri roux
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Apodiformes - Trochilidae - Selasphorus - (AOU 1983).
    Short General Description
    Very small bird; 7-9 cm in length with a wingspan of 11 cm, weight 2-5 g. Male rusty red (orange) on back and body with black on tips of tail, orange-scarlet throat. Female bronze-green on back and body with orange tail, throat white or streaked with bronze-green.
    Migration
    false - false - true - 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).
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    false
    Food Comments
    Diet includes nectar, insects, and tree sap from sapsucker wells. This species obtains nectar from a wide variety of flowering plant species, (e.g., columbine, scarlet gilia, penstemon, paintbrushes, sage, lilies, larkspurs, heaths, currants, salmonberry, honeysuckles, fireweed, horsemint, toad-flax, snapdragon, bee-flower, and others (Calder 1993). Arrival on southward migration in southern Arizona and New Mexico coincides with blooming and high abundance of <i>Agave </i>spp. (Baltosser 1989).<br><br>Experimental manipulation with feeders in successional forest habitat showed that rufous hummingbirds preferred the greatest available sucrose concentrations, ranging from 20 percent to 60 percent, and preferred nectar sources at greater heights (2-3 meters; Blem et al. 1997). <br><br>Insects are important sources of fat, protein, and salts; these are obtained by hawking, gleaning, and in tree sap (Calder 1993).
    Reproduction Comments
    Clutch size is two. Young are capable of first flight about 20 days after hatching (Terres 1980). Bent (1940) reported of instance of as many as 20 nests only a few yards apart in second-growth. Individuals may re-use a nest in subsequent years (Bent 1940, Calder 1993).
    Ecology Comments
    This hummingbird actively defends feeding and nesting territory both inter- and intraspecifically (Cody 1968; Baltosser 1989; Calder 1993). Banding returns show the species has strong fidelity to breeding sites, wintering sites, and migration routes (Calder and Jones 1989; Calder 1993); it has been shown to have strong spatial memory for nectar sites (Hurly 1996). Rufous hummingbirds establish and defend territories around nectar sources on breeding sites, migration stopovers, and wintering sites. Migrating birds can gain an average mass of 0.23 g per day, and conserve energy by going into torpor at night (Hixon and Carpenter 1988). Feeding territory size depends on flower density and fluctuates with the rate of weight gain possible from nectar availability and the cost of territorial defense (Kodric-Brown and Brown 1978; Gass 1979; Carpenter et al. 1983). Feeding territory sizes range from 32 to 3,300 square meters (Gass 1979; Kodric-Brown and Brown 1978). Calder (1993) notes that banded birds have been recaptured at feeders 2 kilometers apart in summer. <br><br>Breeding densities reported range from 0.17 to 2.6 nests per hectare (Horvath 1964 cited in Calder 1993). In Oregon Coast Range Douglas-fir forests, densities reported at 0.16 birds per hectare in young stands, 0.13 birds per hectare mature stands, and 0.33 birds per hectare in old-growth stands (Carey et al. 1991). Average relative abundances reported on BBS routes range from 0.83 to 4.94 birds per 25-mile survey route (Sauer et al. 1997). In winter, 95 individuals captured in 12 nets over two days in a pine-oak post-fire succession habitat in Sierra de Manantlan Biosphere Reserve, Jalisco, Mexico (Calder 1993).<br><br>Baltosser (1983, cited in Miller and Gass 1985) reported high egg and nestling predation (25 percent to 58 percent) in four species of hummingbirds; however, nest predation is apparently unstudied in rufous hummingbirds. Predation on adult hummingbirds is not likely to play a large role in adult mortality (Miller and Gass 1985; Calder 1993).<br><br>Some observers suggest that artificial feeders may increase populations above natural levels by providing food beyond flowering seasons (see Calder 1993) or encouraging birds to delay migration past availability of natural foods. Feeders may also subject birds to predation, disease, or collision with windows. However none of these factors are fully studied or quantified (Calder 1993).
    Length
    10
    Weight
    3
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2009-03-20
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-12-02
    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S4&CA.YT=__&US.AL=__&US.AK=S4&US.AZ=__&US.AR=SU&US.CA=S1&US.CO=__&US.ID=S5&US.KS=__&US.LA=__&US.MS=__&US.MT=S4&US.NN=__&US.NE=__&US.NV=__&US.NM=__&US.NC=__&US.OK=__&US.OR=S4&US.SD=SU&US.TX=__&US.UT=__&US.WA=S4&US.WY=S2" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    G - 200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles) - G - Breeding range extends from southern Alaska, southern Yukon, British Columbia, and southwestern Alberta southward through Washington, Oregon, and western Montana to northwestern California and Idaho (Calder 1993, AOU 1998). <br><br>Winter range extends from coastal southern California (rarely), Sinaloa, Chihuahua, southern Texas, and Gulf Coast (east to western Florida) south to southern Baja California and southern mainland Mexico (e.g., Oaxaca, Veracruz (Calder 1993, AOU 1998). Individuals often occur ouside usual species range.<br><br>Coded range extent refers to breeding range.
    Global Range Code
    G
    Global Range Description
    200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102866