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Rufous Hummingbird

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?Rufous Hummingbird
Conservation status: Least concern[1]
Adult male
Adult male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Trochiliformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Selasphorus
Species: S. rufus
Binomial name
Selasphorus rufus
(Gmelin, 1788)



The adult male, (shown in the photo), has a white breast, rufous face, upperparts, flanks and tail and an iridescent orange-red throat patch (gorget). Some males have some green on back and/or crown. The female has green upperparts with some white, some iridescent orange feathers in the center of the throat, and a dark tail with white tips and rufous base. Females and the rare green-backed males are extremely difficult to differentiate from Allen's Hummingbird. This is a typical-sized hummingbird, being a very small bird. It weighs Template:Convert/-Template:Convert/test/Aon, measures Template:Convert/-Template:Convert/test/Aon long and spans Template:Convert/cmTemplate:Convert/test/Aon across the wings.[2]





File:Selasphorus rufus on Saltspring Island.jpg
File:Selasphorus rufus.jpg
File:Rufous hummingbird female.jpg



This is the western hummingbird most likely to stray into eastern North America. In the United States, there has been an increasing trend for them to migrate southeast to winter in warmer climates like Florida or on the Gulf Coast, rather than in Mexico. (They do arrive at the Turks and Caicos Islands.) This trend is the result of increased survival with the provision of artificial feeders in gardens. In the past, individuals that migrated eastward toward Canada and the northern USA in error would usually die, but now they often survive as they seem to spend more time in the warm Gulf Coast and Florida. Provided sufficient food and shelter is available, they are surprisingly hardy, able to tolerate temperatures down to at least -20°C, so they can be seen in late fall in places like the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and upper New England. As winter comes birds in these areas normally head to the warmer Gulf coast and Florida.

Most hummingbirds that migrate east are juvenile birds and may occasionally be adult females but are very seldom adult males. Since juvenile or female are essentially indistinguishable from Allen's Hummingbirds unless they are examined in hand, many of the eastern vagrants are classified as "Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird". However, a majority are believed to be from the Rufous species.[3]

Cognitive abilitiesEdit



Research on hummingbird hoveringEdit

File:Rufous Hummingbird at Big Lake Franklin (8272121259).jpg

In 2005, a research team led by Dr. Douglas Warrick of Oregon State University used trained rufous hummingbirds in a study to determine the mechanics of hummingbird hovering. The study employed digital particle imaging velocimitry to capture the bird’s wing movements on film, which enabled the discovery that the hummingbird’s hovering is achieved due primarily to its wing’s downstroke (which accounts for 75% of its lift) rather than its upstroke (which makes up the additional 25% of the lift).[6][7]


  1. Template:IUCN
  2. [1]
  3. [2]
  6. includeonly>"Master fliers of the bird kingdom", BBC, 2005-06-27. Retrieved on 2009-10-30.
  7. includeonly>McCall, William. "Study says hummingbirds fly more like birds than insects", Seattle Times/Associated Press, 2005-06-24. Retrieved on 2009-10-30.

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