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Blue-throated Hummingbird

Scientific name: Lampornis clemenciae

Length: 5 inches (13 cm)

Identification: Metallic-green from above and gray from below, the blue-throated hummingbird has a white stripe behind the eye -- or, some would describe it as a white stripe above and another below the eye. The male only has the blue throat (gorget) -- which may look black in poor light -- and white corners to its blue-black tail feathers. The female has white tips to its outer tail feathers and is similar in appearance to the female magnificent hummingbird, which has gray tips to its tail feathers.

Habitat and range: Observed along the border between the United States and Mexico, it nests usually near or over water in a mountain canyon.

FYI: The blue-throated hummingbird, like all hummingbirds, must supplement its protein diet of small insects with continual feeding on nectar and pollen. Not only can the hummingbird fly forwards or backwards, it can adjust itself upwards or downwards, shift side to side, pivot on a stationary axis, hover in midair, but it can also turn a somersault in mid-flight and fly upside-down. Source: Alexander F. Skutch, The Life of the Hummingbird (New York: Vineyard Books, Inc., 1973), pp. 26-27. The scent or perfume of the flower has been demonstrated by experiments with hummingbirds to have little to do with their detection of food. Source: "Hummingbird," The Audubon Nature Encyclopedia, 1965, Vol. 5, p. 895.

Outside links:

Pictures: click picture(s) for larger version, photo credits, and description.




Select a hummingbird by its name:
(in alphabetical order)

Allen's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird
 
Blue-throated Hummingbird

 

Booted Racket-tail Hummingbird

 

Broad-billed Hummingbird
 
Broad-tailed Hummingbird

 

Calliope Hummingbird

 

Costa's Hummingbird
 
Crimson Topaz Hummingbird

 

Long-tailed Hermit Hummingbird

 

Magnificent (Rivoli's) Hummingbird
 
Peruvian Sheartail Hummingbird   Plain-capped Starthroat Hummingbird   Red-billed Streamertail Hummingbird
 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Rufous Hummingbird   Sword-billed Hummingbird
 
Violet-crowned Hummingbird   White-eared Hummingbird   Xantus' Hummingbird

Select a hummingbird's nest by its name: (in alphabetical order)

Allen's Hummingbird (nest) & another

Anna's Hummingbird (nest) & another

Bearded Helmetcrest Hummingbird (nest)
 
Black-chinned Hummingbird (nest) & another & with mother

 

Broad-billed Hummingbird (eggs only)

 

Buff-bellied Hummingbird (nest)
 
Calliope Hummingbird (nest)

 

Costa's Hummingbird (nest) & another & with mother

 

Fork-tailed Emerald Hummingbird (nest)
 
Giant Hummingbird (nest)

 

Glittering-bellied Emerald Hummingbird (nest)

 

Golden-bellied Starfrontlet Hummingbird (nest)
 
Purple-throated Sunangel Hummingbird (nest)   Ruby-throated Hummingbird (nest)   Rufous Hummingbird (nest) & with parents
 
Sappho Comet Hummingbird (nest)   Xantus' Hummingbird (nest)  

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Hummingbird Pictures Guide, and may NOT be used for other purposes.

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