Broad-billed Hummingbird

Cynanthus latirostrisOrder: APODIFORMES Family: Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)

Codes: Common Name: BBIH Scientific Name: CYNLAT ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178073

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Overview

Broad-billed Hummingbird: Medium-sized hummingbird with metallic green body and vibrant blue throat. Bill is bright red with black tip. Tail is black, forked, and has white undertail coverts. Legs and feet are black.Feeds on nectar and insects. Direct and hovering flight with very rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Broad-billed Hummingbird: Breeds in southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include canyons, foothills, and streambeds.

Topo Map: Hummingbird-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chi-dit"

Interesting Facts

The intestine of a Broad-billed Hummingbird is hair thin and about two inches in length.

These birds can consume up to 1.7 times their weight in nectar each day.

At night, when they are unable to feed, they lower their body temperature and slow their metabolism, thus decreasing their need for food.

A group of hummingbirds has many collective nouns, including a “bouquet", "glittering", "hover", "shimmer", and "tune” of hummingbirds.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Broad-billed Hummingbird

● Song: "chi-dit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Broad-billed Hummingbird: Diet is primarily nectar from flowers such as ocotillo and paintbrushes; also eats small insects such as aphids, leafhoppers, and root gnats; forages while hovering. Consumes up to 3 times its own body weight each day.

● Breeding & nesting: Broad-billed Hummingbird: Two white eggs are laid in a rough, loosely woven cup nest built on a vertical branch in a streamside tree. Female incubates eggs for about 14 days.

● Similar species: Broad-billed Hummingbird: The White-eared Hummingbird has broader white stripe behind the eye.

Flight Pattern

Direct and hovering flight.

● Range & Habitat: Broad-billed Hummingbird: Breeds in southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and western Texas. Spends winters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include canyons, foothills, and streambeds.

^BreedingSolitary nester

^PopulationCommon to fairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.1 Ounces

Hummingbird-like Body

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America