Hovering Wonders: Beautiful Broad-billed Hummingbirds

Aerial Gymnasts seen in Madera Canyon at the Santa Rita Lodge

During this migration season hummingbirds are present in large numbers in Southern Arizona at various 'hotspots'. At the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, you can sit and watch the hummingbirds at your leisure. Female Broad-billed Hummingbirds have a white line above their eyes along with a red/orange bill tipped in black. Their underparts are sort of dingy. Today's photos feature Broad-billed Hummingbirds hovering near feeders and a chance to look at the skills of these great flyers.

Male Broad-bills have a blue throat and a blueish/green belly and have an orange/red bill tipped in black. Broad-bills also have a notched tail, slightly visible below. These hummingbirds are small, about the size of a small finger. They weigh only 0.1 of an ounce, about 3-4 grams, and they consume almost double their body's weight in nectar daily.

That bright blue coloring is what makes Broad-bills stand out. And yet those feathers are not really blue. Microscopic structures in the bird's feathers scatter light so that they reflect blue wavelengths. The pigment of the feather is not actually blue. The Smithsonian explains!

The range map from AllAboutBirds shows you where Broad-billed Hummingbirds can be seen in the United States. (Hint: not in many places!)

Hummingbirds' flight skills are astounding. Their wings beat in a figure eight pattern and can turn 180° which allows them to create lift on both the forward or downward and the backward or upward strokes of their wings. I read one estimate of a Broad-billed Hummingbird's wing strokes to be as fast as 70-75 wingbeats per second!!

The hummingbird was finally coming in for a landing on a feeder. At times, the hummingbird would feed, then fly back a bit, hovering while paying attention to nearby competitors, and then return to the feeders.

At attention!!

At this time of year many juvenile hummingbirds are part of the large migration. A young male Broad-billed Hummingbird, hatched this spring, will just now be getting some colorful throat feathers in. You can see a hint of blue on the chin of the Broad-billed Hummingbird below.

My friend and I watched these birds for almost two hours. Only once did a Broad-billed Hummingbird perch on this stick near one of the feeders. Mostly the birds would fly back to perches in nearby trees or bushes in between feedings. It was safer there. Perhaps this male did not want to lose his place in line at the feeder or was too full to fly away.

We also saw many Rufous Hummingbirds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, and also a unique hybrid of a Berylline and a Broad-billed Hummingbird. I'll share those next.