Rufous Hummingbird Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Display
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Oregon, March 26, 2000Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Alaska, June 08, 2013Recorded by Hank Lentfer | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Oregon, March 18, 1990Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Calls

Male and female Rufous Hummingbirds make a fast series of warning chip notes at intruding birds. Males performing a dive display for a female make a chu-chu-chu-chu sound at the bottom of their dive.

Other Sounds

Rufous Hummingbirds make more of a hum with their wings than many hummingbird species (except the broad-tailed). Males make a high-pitched trill as wind passes over specially shaped wing feathers. Both sexes make a lower hum or whine as they beat their wings. They can control the pitch and loudness of this sound by changing how fast they move their wings.