General

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Medium-sized hummingbird with metallic green upperparts and gray underparts with white breast and green-washed flanks. Head appears black overall with a white spot behind eye; cap is very dark green. Throat is iridescent violet; bill is long and slightly decurved. Forked tail is dark green with black outer tail feathers. Female has green upperparts, gray-green cap, white spot behind eye, dark-spotted pale gray throat, and green-washed pale gray underparts; tail is dark green with white corners. Immature resembles female; immature male may show violet on lower throat in the fall.

Range and Habitat

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Breeds from British Columbia south to Mexico and central Texas. Spends winters in Mexico. Preferred habitats include mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"teew-teew-twee", " tchew-tchew-twhew"

Interesting Facts

 In cold weather, a Black-chinned Hummingbird may ingest three times its body weight in nectar in one day.

 Their nest can expand as nestlings grow. The spider and insect silk holding it together stretches and allows the nest to grow along with the growing chicks.

 A group of hummingbirds has many collective nouns, including a “bouquet", "glittering", "hover", "shimmer", and "tune” of hummingbirds.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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