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Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Scientific name: Amazilia violiceps
Length: 4 1/2 inches (11.43 cm)
Identification: The underside of this bird is snow white, and its bill is
essentially red with a black tip. Though its back and tail are a duller gray-green
to bronze-green, its crown is a brighter blue-violet.
Habitat and range: The violet-crowned hummingbird ranges from southeastern
Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to southwestern Mexico. The violet-crowned hummingbird
is commonly found in stands of sycamore and cottonwood along streams in desert canyons.
FYI: Hummingbirds typically visit flowers that are scentless, and they will
frequent flowers of all colors. Possibly the reason that hummingbirds frequent red
flowers is that it gets their attention. The length of the bill of the hummingbird
will determine which flowers it is able to pollinate. The amount of nectar in a visited
flower may be lapped dry instantaneously, or it may take several seconds. Source:
Alexander F. Skutch, The Life of the Hummingbird (New York: Vineyard Books, Inc.,
1973), pp. 46-47. On the other hand, bright colors, such as red flowers, on hummingbird
feeders, may attract more the younger, inexperienced hummingbird, whose curiosity
causes them to investigate a newly hung hummingbird feeder. Source: "Hummingbird,"
The Audubon Nature Encyclopedia, 1965, Vol. 5, p. 895.
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