Here, Rufous! Here, Boy!

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Here, Rufous! Here, Boy!

Today’s special animal friend is the rufous hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus. It is not to be confused, we are told, with the rufous-tailed hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl, so don’t. You won’t see them in the same habitat unless you happen to be, at the right time and very alert, in a tiny area of southern Mexico where the year-round range of rufous-tailed coincides with the winter (nonbreeding) range of the rufous.

As hummingbirds go, the rufous hummingbird is mildly colorful. Males feature overall rufous coloring with a white breast and an iridescent orange-red throat patch. Females, which are slightly larger than males, add green under the throat and white tips on the tail feathers. The rufous hummingbird’s breeding range is in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, up through Canada to the southern coast of Alaska. In the winter, it can be found in southern California, Mexico, and parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast. One’s husband insists, and Birds of the World confirms, that a single, vagrant individual has been confirmed in North Carolina.

They are often found at quite high altitudes, up to 12,600 feet in their winter range or during migration. Like other hummingbirds, they feed on nectar from a variety of plants and on insects, some taken from the air and others off plants.

Rufous hummingbirds – “all ages and both sexes,” as All About Birds says – are very aggressive. They attack one another, other hummingbirds, and whatever else is around.

Rufous hummingbirds breed immediately on arrival in their northern range. Females make tiny nests, no more than 2” in diameter and often near one another, high in trees. Two to three eggs are incubated for about 15 days, and the chicks are fledged in another two to three weeks.

Rufous hummingbirds are rated as Near Threatened by IUCN. The main threat is increased agriculture and pesticide use in their winter range, resulting in declining insect populations.