Hummingbirds Found in Illinois: (Pictures and Sounds)

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What types of hummingbirds are found in Illinois?

There are 8 species of hummingbirds documented as seen in Illinois: Allen’s, Anna’s, Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, Mexican Violetear (AKA Green Violetear), Ruby-throated, and Rufous.

These 8 hummingbird species found in Illinois are further categorized into 3 groups: Year-round residents, seasonal, and rare/vagrants.

Hummingbird:	Year-Round	Seasonal	Rare/Vagrant
Allen’s			X
Anna’s			X
Black-chinned			X
Broad-billed			X
Broad-tailed			X
Mexican Violetear			X
Ruby-throated		X
Rufous			X

Illinois hummingbird sightings from the most common to the least common seen.

Sighting maps of these hummingbirds seen in Illinois:
Ruby-throated
Seen throughout the entire state of Illinois
Rufous
Seen scattered throughout the state with a concentration in the Chicago area.
Broad-billed
Seen in the Canton, Springfield, and Charleston areas.
Mexican Violetear
Seen from just north of Highland Park to the Wisconsin border.
Anna’s
Seen just north of Peoria
Allen’s
Seen just west of Decatur.
Black-chinned
None are seen in Illinois at this current time but are seen at the northern border of Kentucky with Illinois’ southern border. Two of Google’s top-ranking websites list the Black-chinned hummingbird as an Ilinois hummingbird.
Broad-tailed
None seen in Illinois at this current time but one of Google’s top-ranking websites lists the Black-chinned hummingbird as an Ilinois hummingbird.

What are the most common hummingbirds seen in Illinois?

The most common hummingbirds seen in Illinois are the Ruby-throated hummingbirds representing 99.3% of all hummingbirds seen, followed in a distant second place by the Rufous hummingbirds at 0.38%, and in third place are the Broard-billed hummingbirds representing 0.29% of all hummingbirds seen in Illinois.

This chart lists hummingbirds seen in Illinois in descending order of the number of sightings.

	Number Seen Out of 10K	Number Seen Out of All Seen
Year-Round:
None
Seasonal:
Ruby-throated	9,926	99.2%
Rare/Vagrant
Rufous	38	0.38%
Broad-billed	29	0.29%
Mexican Violetear	4-5	0.046%
Anna’s	1-2	0.014%
Allen’s	1 in 100,000	0.001%
Black-chinned	0	0%
Broad-tailed	0	0%

Videos of the top three hummingbirds sighted in Illinois:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird:

Rufous Hummingbird:

 Broad-billed Hummingbird:

Year-Round/Native Hummingbirds in Illinois

This hummingbird classification is defined as hummingbirds that are year-round residents residing in Illinois 365 days a year and do not migrate.

There are no hummingbird species that are native to Illinois and live there 365 days a year, however, the Rufous, Broad-billed, and Anna’s hummingbirds have all been documented as present in the Chicago area in the middle of the winter.

Rufous Hummingbirds (seen in the Chicago area in mid-winter)

Broad-Billed Hummingbirds (seen in the Chicago area in mid-winter)

Anna’s Hummingbirds (seen in the Chicago area in mid-winter)

Some cold-tolerant hummingbirds may over-winter on a year-by-year decision process.

Hummingbirds are much more tolerant of cold weather than most people would expect, especially the Ruby-throated and the Rufous hummingbirds, the two most common hummingbirds seen in Illinois.

While the Rufous hummingbird has been documented in Illinois during the winter months, the Ruby-throated hummingbird has not yet been documented as seen in winter.

According to eBird.org, some banded hummingbirds have been documented in temperatures of -9 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -36 degrees Fahrenheit.

Seasonal Hummingbirds in Illinois

This hummingbird classification is defined as hummingbirds that temporarily pass through Illinois as part of their migratory pattern during spring and fall migration.

Hummingbirds travel north to breed during spring migration and travel south during fall migration to winter in Mexico and Central America.

The only hummingbird seen in Illinois that is classified as seasonal is the Ruby-throated hummingbird.

Many of the Ruby-throated hummingbirds will not migrate further north than Illinois and will remain in Illinois all summer until they migrate south for the winter.

Some Ruby-throated hummingbirds may remain in Illinois for the entire winter by choice, injury, or old age but no Ruby-throated hummingbirds have yet been documented in Illinois all winter long.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD – (Archilochus colubris)

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Archilochus
Species: A. colubris

Rare/Vagrant Hummingbirds in Illinois

This hummingbird classification is defined as hummingbirds residing in a group outside of their normal geographic range. Not only do these species of hummingbirds have a wide variety of specific geographic ranges, but they are also known to sometimes interbreed with each other creating hybrids.

These hummingbirds are out of their normal area of occupancy but have been documented as being seen in Illinois.

The seven hummingbirds that are seen in Illinois and classified as Rare/Vagrants are (listed in order of frequency seen):

• Rufous
• Broad-billed
• Mexican Violetear
• Anna’s
• Allen’s
• Black-chinned
• Broad-tailed

Rufous Hummingbird

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD – (Selasphorus rufus)

Conservation Status: Near threatened
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Selasphorus
Species: S. rufous

A far fewer number of Rufous hummingbirds will stay in Illinois all summer on their spring northern migration, however, unlike the plentiful Ruby-throated hummingbirds, some Rufous have been documented as present in the Illinois winter.

Broad-Billed Hummingbird

BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD – (Cynanthus latirostris)

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Cynanthus
Species: C. latirostris

Mexican Violetear Hummingbird

MEXICAN VIOLETEAR (aka GREEN VIOLETEAR) HUMMINGBIRD – (Colibri thalassinus)  

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Colibri
Species: C. thalassinus

Anna’s Hummingbird

ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD – (Calypte anna) 

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Calypte
Species: C. anna

Allen’s Hummingbird

ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD – (Selasphorus sasin)

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

Black-chinned Hummingbird

BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD – (Archilochus alexandri)

Conservation Status: Least concerned
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Archilochus
Species: A. alexandri

No Black-chinned hummingbirds are currently documented as seen in Illinois at this time, however, one of Google’s top-ranking websites lists the Broad-tailed hummingbird as an Illinois hummingbird.

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

No Broad-tailed hummingbirds are currently documented as seen in Illinois at this time, however, one of Google’s top-ranking websites lists the Broad-tailed hummingbird as an Illinois hummingbird.

See my article: Hummingbird Migration in Illinois

Happy Hummingbird Watching!

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