Rufous Hummingbird Facts

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology calls the rufous hummingbird North America's feistiest hummingbird. This tiny bird possesses brilliantly colored feathers and a long beak as well as the flying abilities that distinguish all hummingbirds from other birds. The rufous hummingbird migrates incredible distances from its winter home to its summer habitat and back.

  1. Description

    • The rufous hummingbird averages 3.5 inches long and weighs just 3 grams. The male has a gleaming orange color on the belly and the back with a lustrous reddish throat. The females of this species have green upper parts and rufous sides. These rusty colors are also on the greenish tail, and the females have a patch of orange on their throats. The eye is brown and the bill resembles a sewing needle.

    Geography

    • Few birds on earth travel a longer distance while migrating than the rufous hummingbird. Those that nest in the southeastern parts of Alaska, which is as far north as any hummingbird goes, spend winters in southern portions of Mexico. This trip one way is about 3,900 miles. In late winter, the birds follow the Pacific Coast north and make their way to breed in states like Oregon and Washington. When heading south, sometimes as soon as July, the rufous hummingbird follows the Rocky Mountains, in essence making its round trip a circular one.

    Behavior

    • Like all hummingbirds, the rufous can rotate its wing in different directions, allowing it to fly backward and hover. It can change direction rapidly, and it beats its wing at the rate of an average 57 times each second. The bird eats as much as three times the weight of its own body every day, dining on nectar from flowers. The rufous favors species like honeysuckle, black locust, scarlet sage and horsemint flowers. It will also pick bugs out of nectar and spider webs.

    Nesting

    • Only the female builds the nest for this species, with the help of spider webs that keep plants down together in the shape of a thimble. Lichens, bark and bits of moss line the outside of the nest, which the bird will construct approximately 30 feet up in trees such as the Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce, hemlock and western red cedar. Sometimes, there are as many as 20 nests within yards of each other in the same tree. Typically, the female lays two eggs and takes two weeks to incubate them before raising the young by her.

    Aggressiveness

    • Any hummingbird species that comes near a rufous hummingbird will find itself under attack from the bird. No matter what sex or how old the rufous is, it will take on other hummingbirds. While migrating and staying in a place for as short as a week, the rufous will still aggressively chase other hummingbirds. The birds have a penchant for remembering where flowers and bird feeders that provided meals in the past are.