Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD – (Selsaphoris platycercus)

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Selsaphoris
Species: S. platycercus

The Broad-tailed hummingbird breeds as far north as Montana, the western United States, and as south as Mexico and Guatemala.
They are a migratory bird that mainly travels south to Mexico and Guatemala for the winter.

This species is named for the male’s notably broad tail, a key distinguishing feature.

When in flight, the broad tail creates a distinctive trilling sound, making both its visual and auditory traits integral to its identity.
These unique characteristics played a significant role in the bird’s naming.

Male
Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds:

The male Broad-tailed hummingbird is brightly colored with a metallic green back, a vibrant iridescent rosy-red throat (gorget), vivid white eye rings, a grayish-white belly, and a widely rounded tail.

They have a medium build, measure from 3.3 and 3.8 inches in length, and weigh 3.6 grams.

The metal plate that shields the wearer’s throat during combat to prevent injuries is the inspiration behind the name of the gorget on a male hummingbird. 

This name is acceptable and fitting to characterize the physical characteristics of male hummingbirds, since they fight fiercely for their own territory.

Read my article:
Hummingbird Gorgets Explained

Female
Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds:

The female Broad-tailed hummingbird is less colorful than the male with vivid white eye rings and lacks a gorget and iridescent feathers.

They have green backs that extend from the head to the tail, a pale throat with some spotting, and a buffy or grayish belly.

See my article:
Hummingbird Parents: (Mating to Nesting)

Juvenile
Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds:

Male and female juvenile Broad-tailed hummingbirds initially resemble adult females until the male starts to develop the iridescent feathers that are characteristic of this species of hummingbird.

Juvenile Broad-tailed hummingbirds molt into their adult plumage as they mature, developing the full iridescent throat patch (gorget) and brighter coloration in males, or retaining the subtler tones in females.

As juveniles molt into their first full set of feathers, the fluffy white undertail coverts become visible. These feathers are a distinguishing feature and are often more prominent due to their soft texture.

Baby
Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds:

Baby Broad-tailed  hummingbirds are tiny, naked, and helpless at birth, with closed eyes and no feathers. They grow quickly, developing gray down within a few days. By 2–3 weeks, pin feathers emerge, and their green plumage starts showing. 

Fed by regurgitated nectar and insects from their mother, they fledge the nest at about 3 weeks old.

See my article:
Baby Hummingbirds: (Egg to Fledgling)

Hear the sounds of the Broad-tailed hummingbird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology link).

The Broad-tailed hummingbird travels frequently to the United States near the southern Mexican border.

They have a migrant and non-migrant population that begins in the south of Mexico.
The ones that migrate north to breed will do so during spring migration and will pass through Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and reach as far north as Montana.

The Broad-tailed hummingbird favors habitats in the understory of mature forest woodlands such as pine and oak groves.
They chose to nest on the branches of trees and have been known to return to the same nesting ground each year, roughly 70% of the time.

Their breeding time coincides with the peak time of flowering native plants for maximum food resource availability. Their favorite nectar-producing flower plants include Red Columbine, Indian Paintbrush, Sage varieties, Currants, and Scarlet Mint.

Once the breeding season is complete, Broad-tailed hummingbirds will depart and begin their southbound fall migration to winter in Mexico and meet up with their non-migrant population.

In terms of social behavior, Broad-tailed hummingbirds are generally solitary, especially outside of the breeding season. They can be territorial, with males often defending prime feeding territories from other hummingbirds.

See my article:
Why Hummingbirds Chase Each Other: Is it Friend or Foe?

The Broad-tailed hummingbird has suffered a decline in population since the 1990s, but presently, its population is stable, and it has been shown to have adapted to human habitat encroachment.

Broad-tailed hummingbirds hybridize and readily crossbreed with other hummingbird species, such as the Costa’s hummingbird.

The oldest living Broad-tailed hummingbird, a female, was 12 years and 2 months, recorded during a capture and release banding operation in Colorado.

See my article:
3 Reasons Why Hummingbirds Are Banded