Hummingbirds Pictures - Species

Picture source: Pats Backyard Bird Cam © 2002-2004 Patricia Velte

Now, in order to take a closer look at the wonderful creation that is the hummingbird, we should make a brief journey to the land of hummingbirds and consider some species. All hummingbirds have a long beak, and therefore, although it is hardly possible to comprehend the whole category, you hopefully will not take much trouble to define one.

Hummingbirds Pictures - Species Descriptions

The Black Chinned hummingbird (Archelocus Alexandri) can be distinguished by the black coloring of the chin, which remains black even when sunlight falls at a proper angle. The rest of the body is iridescent and it may come in various visible colors. The species can be found in Mexico, which is their winter range, and further from the southwest of America and to Canada.

The Ruby Throated hummingbird (Archilocus Colubris) occupies a vast territory from the Atlantic coast of the US and Mexico and further into Central America. They also appear in the north of America during breeder seasons. They feature green back, a green crown on the head and a ruby red patch on the chest. Ruby reds have shorter bills than some of the other species.

The Calliope hummingbird (Stellula Calope) is the smallest of all hummingbirds. Their tails and bills are short in relation to those of other hummingbirds. Male Calliopes have a distinctive velvety violet pattern (gorget), beginning at the base of the bill and down to the neck. When feeding, the bird is a sort of suspended in the air, the wings moving fast almost beyond visibility. Calliopes have a sweet and mellow voice, which makes hummingbirds easier to define.

Violet Crowned hummingbirds are but the easiest to tell among other hummingbirds. They have bright white underside and distinctive olive blue upper side. This bird does not have gorget-like markings. The bill is long and strong. It is dark on the tip and orange at the base.

Hummingbirds are migratory birds. In the spring they move from the south and Mexico to the northwestern states. Some species gather on the coastal line of the Gulf of Mexico, where they settle for a short while to accumulate strength and energy to fly 500 miles above the water. In April hummingbirds begin to move to south east and Canada.

Hummingbirds Pictures - Links

Picture source: Pats Backyard Bird Cam © 2002-2004 Patricia Velte

Animal Diversity Web - Black-chinned Hummingbird - Learn about this bird's classification and view photos. Read about its food habits, reproduction, and habitat.

Animal Diversity Web - Long-tailed Hermit - Furnishes details about this bird's food habits, reproduction, and behavior. Also includes a sound file.

Animal Diversity Web - Lucifer Hummingbird - Provides facts about this bird's physical characteristics, habitat, diet, and breeding.

Attract Hummingbirds - Visit this site to learn how to attract the hummingbirds to your garden.

Attracting Hummingbirds - Key requirements for hummingbird feeding.

Attracting Hummingbirds to Gardens - Grow a flower garden of food for attracting hummingbirds.

Bird Feeders for Hummingbirds - These are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Hummingbirds:

Botanical 'velcro' Entraps Hummingbirds - Burrs Cause Bird Fatalities - Burrs can snag more than sweaters. Once, they snared at least four ruby-throated hummingbirds--three of them fatally, according to National Park Service biologists.

Flex That Bill: Hummingbirds' Surprising Insect-catching Style - High-speed videos of hummingbirds catching fruit flies show that the birds' lower bills are unexpectedly flexible, say researchers.

Flowers and Plants which Attract Hummingbirds to your Garden - Creating a hummingbird garden habitat.

How Many Hummingbirds? - The following information, including reader comments, is intended to give you a "feel" for the numbers of hummingbirds coming to your feeders.

How to Attract Hummingbirds - The greatest variety of hummingbirds occurs in the American Southwest. In winter, hummingbirds are almost exclusively limited to California, Arizona and Texas.

How to Attract Hummingbirds! - Hummingbirds are pretty, they pollinate flowers, and they can move their wings faster than any other bird.

Picture source: Pats Backyard Bird Cam © 2002-2004 Patricia Velte

Hummingbird Gardening Plants - Perennials for Hummingbirds - Hummingbird gardening involves the planting of hummingbird attracting plants. It is just that simple!

Hummingbird Highlights - Discover migration facts, gardening directions, feeder care and placement ideas, craft projects, FAQ, reader Q & A, photographs, simple visual anatomy guide and how to care for injured birds.

Hummingbird: How to Help Injured Hummingbirds - As with other wild animals, life is full of danger for hummingbirds, whether from weather, predators, disease or human intervention.

Hummingbirds - Beautifully hand crafted with an American made, exclusive specialty glass, to give the wings of the hummingbird a realistic metallic green luster.

Hummingbirds - DesertUSA - Throughout the spring and summer months, they arrive by the thousands, exiting the super highway of bird migration, the Continental Divide, and descend on the lush flower laden Sapillo Valley, located in the heart of New Mexico's Gila Forest.

Hummingbirds and Hawkmoths - One of the most remarkable cases of mistaken identity in the animal world in the British Isles involves a large but unassuming moth. Every year many people are taken back as they see in their garden what appears at first sight to be a hummingbird hovering at the flow.

Hummingbirds by Charles W. Melton - Charles W. Melton captures the unique beauty of these fascinating hummingbirds in their natural habitat, including the rarely seen nestlings.

Hummingbirds On the Way - In one of nature's annual occurrences, ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive in Michigan in April, before there's much food available, so get those hummingbird feeders cleaned and hung.

Hummingbirds: Frantic and Fascinating - History of the hummingbirds and their characteristics.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Species account from the Birds of North America.

The Hummingbird Diaries - A pictorial history documenting the daily growth of two nestlings.

Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) - This page contains 337 species and 19 videos.

William Zittrich's Hummingbird Photographs - Amazing images of southern California hummingbirds.

World Birding Center to Draw Hummingbirds to Historic Pumphouse - A tiny dynamo: These words could describe both the amazing Buff-bellied hummingbird, and the little town on the Rio Grande that chose this energetic South Texas species as mascot for its new wing of the World Birding Center.