Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Photograph by Bill Ratcliff, National Park Service. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird | Selasphorus platycercus photo

Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Photograph by Bill Ratcliff, National Park Service. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD FACTS

Description
The Broad-tailed hummingbird is iridescent green with a white breast. The male has a bright iridescent rose red throat patch. The female is much duller with rust-colored and mottled throat. Older females sometimes have a few red feathers on the throat. Juveniles have dark greenish black throat patch.

Size
10cm

Environment
mountain forest, meadows

Food
nectar, insects found in flowers, insects in flight.

Breeding
The nest is a small cup made of plant fibers woven together and bound with spider web. The female lays two white eggs which hatch after 16 days. Young fledge about 23 days after hatching.

Range
Broad-tailed hummingbirds breed in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, eastern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, west Texas. Also breeds in highlands of Mexico and Guatemala. Winters in Mexico and Guatemala.

Classification

Class:	Aves
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Genus:	Selasphorus
Species:	platycercus
Common Name:	Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Relatives in same Genus
  Volcano Hummingbird (S. flammula)
  Rufous Hummingbird (S. rufus)
  Allen's Hummingbird (S. sasin)
  Scintillant Hummingbird (S. scintilla)

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