General

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Medium-sized hummingbird with metallic green upperparts and gray underparts with white breast and green-washed flanks. Head appears black overall with a white spot behind eye; cap is very dark green. Throat is iridescent violet; bill is long and slightly decurved. Forked tail is dark green with black outer tail feathers. Female has green upperparts, gray-green cap, white spot behind eye, dark-spotted pale gray throat, and green-washed pale gray underparts; tail is dark green with white corners. Immature resembles female; immature male may show violet on lower throat in the fall.

Range and Habitat

Black-chinned Hummingbird: This species breeds from southern British Columbia south across the western states to northern Mexico and central Texas. It spends winters in western coastal Mexico and along the Gulf Coast. Preferred habitats include mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-chinned Hummingbird: One to three white eggs are laid in a nest made of fluffy plant wool and lichens woven together with spider webs and built in a shrub or low tree. Incubation ranges from 13 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Diet consists of nectar, pollen, insects, and sugar water from feeders; prefers nectar from flowers of tree tobacco, scarlet larkspur, and desert ocotillo.

Readily Eats

Sugar Water

Vocalization

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Song is a repetitive "teew" or "tchew." When defending feeding territory or giving chase, combines the "eew" note with high-pitched twitters and squeaks.

Similar Species

Black-chinned Hummingbird: Ruby-throated Hummingbird has red throat, shorter bill, greener crown, buff wash on sides, and a different voice. Costa's Hummingbird is smaller and has grayer upperparts and whiter underparts.