Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 3.1–3.5 in
8–9 cm - Wingspan
- 5.1 in
13 cm - Weight
- 0.1–0.1 oz
3–4 g
Other Names
- Colibrie vibrador, Chupamirto cola ancha (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Broad-tailed Hummingbird enters torpor, a slowed metabolic state, on cold nights. It maintains a body temperature of about 12.2°C (54°F) when ambient temperatures fall below 10°C (44°F).
- In some areas of Broad-tailed Hummingbird breeding habitat, cold air descends into valleys at night, with warmer areas upslope. This phenomenon is called a thermal inversion. The male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, which does not attend the nest, goes upslope at night to conserve heat, reducing the energy costs of thermoregulation by about 15 percent.
Habitat
Open Woodland
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds can be found in high elevations of California, Mexico, and the southern and central Rocky Mountains. The live in open woodland, especially pinyon-juniper and pine-oak, brushy hillsides, montane scrub and thickets. In migration and winter you may also see them in open parts of lowlands where flowering shrubs are present. The cold climate of Broad-tailed Hummingbirds’ northernmost range, where temperatures may drop below freezing even in the summer, requires that these small-bodied birds select their immediate environments very carefully. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds live most often in subalpine meadows and shrubby areas with nearby forests of willow, pine, fir or spruce.
Food
Nectar
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds primarily consume nectar from flowers such as red columbine, indian paintbrush, sage, and scarlet mint. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds also feed from flowers that are not typically used by other hummingbirds, including pussywillows, currants, and glacier lilies. They will also eat small insects, gleaning them from leaves and snatching them from midair.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 2 eggs
- Number of Broods
- 1 broods
- Egg Length
- 0.5–0.6 in
1.2–1.5 cm - Egg Width
- 0.3–0.4 in
0.8–1 cm - Incubation Period
- 16–19 days
- Nestling Period
- 21–26 days
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless.
Nest Description
Female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds build their nest in 4-5 days. They make a thick inner cup out of spiderweb and gossamer and camouflage the outside with lichens, moss, and bark fragments. The structure, often anchored to the branch with spider webbing, is a well-insulated and substantially decreases the nighttime energy requirements of the incubating female. When the nest is finished it has an outer diameter of 2 inches and a 0.8 inch inside diameter, but it stretches as the chicks grow until the cup is flattened into a platform shape.
Nest Placement
Tree
Breeding season for the Broad-tailed Hummingbird begins with the flowering of their food sources. They often make trips to prospective nest sites before there is an adequate food supply in the area. They look for a site in a conifer, willow, alder, or cottonwood that will help them conserve heat, such as a low branch shielded by overhanging limbs or trunk deformities.
Behavior
Hovering
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds move solely by flight. When they forage they hover, beating their wings at a frequency of 50 wingbeats per second. When the nights are too cold, it is not uncommon for the incubating females to go into a hypothermic torpor. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are promiscuous, may mate with several individuals in a season, and do not form pair bonds. Males do not contribute to nest construction or care of young. When male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are courting, they climb to great heights, hover, loudly trill their wings, and dive down to the females again in spectacular displays.
Conservation
Least Concern
The popularity of hummingbird feeders may have allowed Broad-tailed Hummingbird numbers to increase, although no hard data are available on population trends. Window strikes, collisions with cars, and electric fences can be dangerous to Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.
Credits
- Calder, W. A. and L. L. Calder. 1992. Broad-tailed Hummingbird. In The Birds of North America, No. 16 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union.