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Allen's Hummingbird Life History

Habitat

Open WoodlandsAllen's Hummingbirds breed in a narrow strip of coastal forest, scrub, and chaparral from sea level to around 1,000 feet elevation along the West Coast. Males tend to hold territories in more open areas while females nest in areas with tree cover including eucalyptus, redwood, and Douglas-fir. On the wintering grounds in Mexico, they use oak-pine forest, edges, and scrubby clearings with abundant flowers. Back to top

Food

NectarAllen's Hummingbirds sip nectar from flowers such as bush monkeyflower, Indian paintbrush, columbine, currant, gooseberry, twinflower, penstemon, ceanothus, sage, eucalyptus, and manzanita. They get their protein by capturing small insects in midair or picking them off plants. Back to top

Nesting

Nest Placement

ShrubFemales nest in trees or shrubs anywhere from 2–50 feet above the ground. They frequently build their nests near shady streams in blackberry, bracken fern, eucalyptus, cypress, or Douglas-fir.

Nest Description

Female Allen's Hummingbirds gather spiderweb and downy material from willows and flowers in the sunflower family to form the base and inner part of the nest. She sticks the downy fibers together with spiderwebs and uses her body to shape the inside of the cup. She weaves small pieces of grass and leaves to form a thin outer layer and camouflages the outside with pieces of lichen and moss. It takes her 7–13 days to build a nest that is about 1.25 inches across on the inside. Females frequently build new nests on top of old ones or steal material from old nests to build a new one in a different location.

Nesting Facts

Number of Broods:1-3 broods
Egg Length:0.5-0.6 in (1.2-1.4 cm)
Egg Width:0.3-0.4 in (0.8-1 cm)
Incubation Period:17-22 days
Nestling Period:22-25 days
Egg Description:White.
Condition at Hatching:Helpless, with dark skin and some white down along the back.
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Behavior

HoveringAllen's Hummingbirds sip nectar, take small insects in midair, and pick small spiders off vegetation. Males and females defend feeding territories on both the breeding and wintering grounds, chasing away any hummingbird that dares to feed at its nectar sources, though they are not as aggressive as Rufous Hummingbirds. During the breeding season, males also defend patches of coastal scrub with prominent perches where they perform their courtship displays. These elaborate flights are mainly aimed at enticing females to mate, but sometimes displays are used to threaten other species. They have two main displays: a side-to-side shuttle and a pendulum. In the shuttle, they fly short distances side to side in front of a female with their gorget flared out while trilling their wings. In the pendulum display, males zip back and forth in wide arcs producing a stuttering bumblebee-like sound. After the pendulum display, males fly up to 100 feet into the air. On their return they emit a sharp trill with their tail, pulling out of the dive right in front of the female. After the dive they swoop back into the pendulum display followed by another dive. Males perform these elaborate displays for multiple females, but that's their only contribution to parenting. Males mate with more than one female and leave them to raise the young on their own. Back to top

Conservation

Declining

Allen's Hummingbirds are fairly common, but their populations declined by 80% between 1968 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population is 1.5 million and rates them 16 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. Allen’s Hummingbird is included on the Yellow Watch List for birds most at risk of extinction without significant conservation actions to reverse declines and reduce threats. If current rates of decline continue, Allen’s Hummingbirds will lose another half of their remaining population within the next 17 years. Allen's Hummingbirds may not be as adapted to urban environments as other species of hummingbirds and their coastal habitats continue to be under intense development pressure. However, hummingbird feeders, eucalyptus, and other nonnative plants may provide additional nectar resources that could partially offset these problems.

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Credits

Clark, Christopher J. and Donald E. Mitchell. (2013). Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.

Dunne, P. (2006). Pete Dunne's essential field guide companion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, USA.

Karlson, Kevin and D Rosselet. (2015). Birding by Impression. Living Bird 25:34-42.

Lutmerding, J. A. and A. S. Love. (2020). Longevity records of North American birds. Version 2020. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory 2020.

Partners in Flight. (2020). Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2020.

Rosenberg, K. V., J. A. Kennedy, R. Dettmers, R. P. Ford, D. Reynolds, J. D. Alexander, C. J. Beardmore, P. J. Blancher, R. E. Bogart, G. S. Butcher, A. F. Camfield, A. Couturier, D. W. Demarest, W. E. Easton, J. J. Giocomo, R. H. Keller, A. E. Mini, A. O. Panjabi, D. N. Pashley, T. D. Rich, J. M Ruth, H. Stabins, J. Stanton, and T. Will (2016). Partners in Flight Landbird Conservation Plan: 2016 Revision of Canada and Continental United States. Partners in Flight Science Committee.

Sauer, J. R., D. K. Niven, J. E. Hines, D. J. Ziolkowski Jr., K. L. Pardieck, J. E. Fallon, and W. A. Link (2019). The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966–2019. Version 2.07.2019. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

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