Saturday, May 28, 2022

Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird

We spent portions of two days at Milpe Bird Sanctuary and both days a solitary rufous-tailed hummingbird terrorized the other hummingbirds. It was extremely aggressive, chasing away other hummingbirds from the feeders. I really tried to get a good photo and couldn't. I saw it land several times but it always flew before I could focus and get a good photo.
Wikipedia notes it is "extremely territorial and aggressive at feeding sites such as...feeders, from which it chases other hummingbirds and large insects." There are five subspecies and it is found from east-central Mexico through Central America and Colombia into Ecuador and Venezuela.  

It is mostly green, but readily identifiable by its rufous tail and pinkish-red bill with a black tip. eBird has 311,172 observations and 7,505 with photos. 

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like Rufous is the bully of the hummingbird world. That black tip on his beak is kind of like a spiky hairdo on a gang member.

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