Songs
There are only two published accounts of Black-chinned Hummingbirds singing, both of males near Austin, Texas. These songs were described as “a sweet and low, though very high-pitched warble, like the sound produced as a result of whistling through the teeth.”
Other Sounds
Wings hum when in flight. A sound thought to be made by the wings during a male’s display dives has a somewhat higher pitch than the normal flight sound and may include pure, bell-like tones. It has only been recorded by diving birds, never when perched.
Backyard Tips
It’s fairly easy to attract Black-chinned Hummingbirds to feeding stations. Make sugar water mixtures with about one-quarter cup of sugar per cup of water. Food coloring is unnecessary; table sugar is the best choice. Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather, sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol. During hot spells, change your hummingbird water daily or at most every two days. Your feeders will attract far more hummingbirds if you also grow appropriate flowers attractive to them.
Find This Bird
When birding in its range, listen for the distinctive humming wings and check out tiny bare branches at the tops of dead or live trees, where these birds often sit between feeding bouts. Black-chinned Hummingbirds can be very tricky to follow as they dart and weave among flowering shrubs and insect swarms, but after a feeding bout they very often return to a favorite perch.
Get Involved
Keep track of the Black-chinned Hummingbirds at your feeder with Project FeederWatch.
Look for Black-chinned Hummingbird nests and contribute valuable data about them through NestWatch.
Report your Black-chinned Hummingbird sightings to eBird.
Are you watching Black-chinned Hummingbirds in a city? Celebrate Urban Birds!
For recommendations about plants that attract Black-chinned Hummingbirds in desert habitats.
Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory conducts research and provides authoritative information about Southwestern hummingbirds.
The Nature Conservancy protects many areas that provide habitat for Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Perhaps the most popular is Ramsey Canyon in Southeastern Arizona.
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma is an easy place to see Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Find out more.