Violet-crowned Hummingbird Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesViolet-crowned Hummingbird
Fairly large, slender hummingbird with clean white underparts. Note lack of gorget (both sexes) and straight orange bill with black tip.
© RJ Baltierra / Macaulay LibraryArizona, February 01, 2022Fairly large, slender hummingbird with white throat and iridescent purple head. Males and females look alike. Often visits hummingbird feeders.
© Thomas Ford-Hutchinson / Macaulay LibraryArizona, October 10, 2015Often feeds at hummingbird feeders. Males and females look alike, and both sexes lack colorful gorget (throat).
© Tom Johnson / Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 01, 2014Note nearly straight, long bill, orange at base and black at tip. Brown tail lacks white flashes.
© Bryan Calk / Macaulay LibraryArizona, August 09, 2020Large, slender hummingbird with nearly straight, long, orange-based bill. Adults have glittering violet crown and lack a colorful gorget. Males and females look alike. Tail often appears notched.
© Aaron Yappert / Macaulay LibraryArizona, August 27, 2017Brownish hummingbird with clean white underparts (including throat) and straight orange bill with black tip.
© Tom Johnson / Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 01, 2014Fairly large hummingbird with clean white underparts, including throat. Immatures have partially brown heads with some violet on the crown and hindneck.
© Christoph Moning / Macaulay LibraryArizona, August 18, 2018Fairly large hummingbird with nearly straight, long, orange bill with black tip. Immatures have partially brown heads with some violet on the crown and hindneck.
© Tyler Ficker / Macaulay LibraryArizona, December 19, 2019Note fairly large size and orange bill compared with other hummingbirds. Immatures have brown on the head with limited violet on the crown and hindneck. (Other species in this video: immature Black-chinned and Broad-billed Hummingbirds.)
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryJuly 01, 1997Feeds on flowers along wooded streams, meadows, and pine-oak-juniper forest. Also visits hummingbird feeders.
© Efrain Octavio Aguilar Pérez / Macaulay LibraryJalisco, November 29, 2020Similar SpeciesRivoli's Hummingbird
Female
Female Rivoli's Hummingbird has an all-dark bill, more white behind the eye, dingier underparts, and white flashes in the tail, unlike Violet-crowned Hummingbird's mostly orange bill, clean white underparts, and all-brown tail.
© Marc FASOL / Macaulay LibraryAlta Verapaz, May 02, 2012Similar SpeciesCosta's Hummingbird
Female
Female Costa's Hummingbirds are smaller and shorter bodied than Violet-crowned, with an all dark bill.
© Gordon Karre / Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 29, 2020Similar SpeciesBlack-chinned Hummingbird
Female/immature male
Female and immature Black-chinned Hummingbirds are smaller and shorter bodied than Violet-crowned, with an all dark bill.
© Marky Mutchler / Macaulay LibraryNew Mexico, July 14, 2020Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Hummingbirds(Order: Caprimulgiformes, Family: Trochilidae)
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