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The Broad-billed Hummingbird
Zoe Ann Hinds
The Broad-billed hummingbird is one of the more mild-mannered species of hummingbird. Unlike other hummingbird species, which are usually in constant and perpetual motion, this species of hummingbird may often sit on a high perch for long periods. The name of this hummingbird is truly uninspired and quite common and it comes from the species name, which translates as "broad bill."
The broad-billed hummingbird is found in Mexico, southern Arizona, and western Texas, typically in desert canyons and mesquite thickets of arid lowlands. It likes arid scrub, open deciduous forest, semi-desert and other open situations in arid habitats. This bird winters in Mexico. Very rarely, the occasional straggler will show up in Louisiana, Utah, and California.
This is a medium sized, stocky hummingbird. The male of the species can be identified by its blue-black notched tail. The male also has dark green above and below and has an iridescent blue gorget or throat, a basically red-orange bill with a blackish tip. The female can be distinguished by its square tail with white outer tips. The female is also a duller green above and grey below, with a red-orange bill and a white eye stripe.
The immature female resembles adult female but is duller in color then the adult female and has buffy fringes on feathers of upperparts and white tips.
The immature male resembles the female but there will be a small patch, strip or scattering of blue feathers on the throat. The feathers of the upperparts are pale at the edges. The bill of the immature male is more orange at the base and their tail is bluer then that of the female.
There are many species of hummingbirds that are quite similar to the Broad-billed hummingbird. The species listed here are not the only species that are similar to the Broad-billed hummingbird, but they are a few examples. The White-eared hummingbird is similar in size but chunkier and it has a larger head in proportion to its body. The Magnificent hummingbird has an all black bill. The Blue-throated hummingbird has paler upperparts, large rounded blue-black tail with large pure white spots at the corners, and an all-black bill.
This hummingbird will seemly change colors. This is due to iridescent parts of the feathers, where a change in the angle of viewing in relationship to the sun will make the hummingbird appear to have changed colors.
The Broad-billed hummingbird will seek out nectar plants. These plants are some of the favorites of the Broad-billed hummingbird: Agaves, Ocotillo, Prickly Pears, and Penstemons. This hummingbird will also eat the tiny insects that are attached to the flowers.
During courtship and aggressive encounters, the male Broad-billed hummingbird will perform what is known as a pendulum display, starting by hovering about a foot from the female and then flying in repeated arcs, like a pendulum. This display will be followed by a high-pitched zinging sound. Other than this brief description, little additional information is believed to be known about this species maneuvers during courtship. This may be because this bird chooses not to perform such displays whenever humans are present or they choose secluded areas in which to perform their courtship displays.
The nesting season of this species of hummingbird last from March to September. This species will have two broods per year, with each usually consisting of two eggs. At birth, the young are helpless.
The nest of the Broad-Billed hummingbird can be found in the low branches, usually located near water, of mesquite, sycamores, and hackberry trees. The nest is made of plant fibers, shreds of bark, fine grasses that are bound together with spider webs. The nest will often be camouflaged to look like a little blob of flood debris that is caught the branches of the tree. The camouflaging is done through the use of leaves, stem fragments, dried flowers, and occasionally flat chips of lichen.
This hummingbird is quite common within its range in the United States, but that could change in the future if things continue as they currently exist. The habitat of this bird is believed to be quite venerable to residential and recreational development. As a direct result of this, the species is becoming more dependent on hummingbird feeders and gardens as their food sources. In Northwestern Mexico, the conversion of natural desert into pasture land for livestock may disrupt the migratory pathways of this bird into the United States.
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