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Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Selasphorus platycercus

Photo by LoisStacey
Published on Project Noah
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35.1995, -111.651

Field Notes

Description:

Male and female both have iridescent green backs and crowns and a white breast. The male has a gorget (throat patch) that shines with a brilliant red iridescence. The female is much duller with rust-colored, mottled flanks and underside; her tail feathers are tipped with a band of white. In flight the male's wings produce a distinct trilling sound diagnostic for this species.[2]

The summer range of the Broad-tailed Hummingbird extends across mountain forests and meadows throughout the Western United States, specifically the Great Basin region and southwards; the resident birds range from the cordilleran mountain areas of northern Mexico as far south as Guatemala. At summer's end the northerly birds migrate and overwinter in the southern part of their range. This species is somewhat vagrant, especially wintering birds, and is regularly seen in El Salvador where it does not breed. They occur at altitudes ranging from 700–900 m (2,300–3,000 ft) up to 3,350 m (10,990 ft) ASL in the tropical parts of their range.[3]

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Photographed
PublishedAugust 3, 2013

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