Broad-billed Hummingbird

Cynanthus latirostris

Order APODIFORMES - Family TROCHILIDAE - Subfamily Trochilinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Other Names

A strikingly colorful bird, the Broad-billed Hummingbird reaches the northern limit of its range in southeastern Arizona. Broad-billed Hummingbirds that nest in Arizona are migratory; populations in Mexico are resident year-round in their breeding range.

Cool Facts

• Like other hummingbirds, the Broad-billed Hummingbird probably consumes about 1.6 to 1.7 times its body weight in nectar each day.

• The male Broad-billed Hummingbird performs a courtship display, starting by hovering about a foot from the female and then flying in repeated arcs, like a pendulum.

• Like other hummingbirds, the Broad-billed Hummingbird is incapable of walking or hopping.

Description

• Size: 10 cm (4 in)
• Wingspan: 12 cm (5 in)
• Weight: 3-4 g (0.11-0.14 ounces)

Small hummingbird. Broad, notched tail. Long, red bill with dark tip. Green back. Male with blue throat and green chest. Female with white line over eye, dark ear-patch, and gray underparts.

Sex Differences

Male has blue throat and green belly; female has white throat and gray belly.

Immature

Juvenile resembles adult female, with buffy fringes on feathers of upperparts.

Similar Species

• Juvenile and adult female Broad-billed Hummingbird closely resembles juvenile and adult female White-eared Hummingbird. Broad-billed Hummingbird's ear patch is grayish, while White-eared's is blackish. Center of Broad-billed's throat is clear gray, while White-eared's throat is spotted.

Sound

Call is a short "je-dit," resembling that of Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Male's song is a series of high sounds starting with a chip.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from southeastern Arizona and extreme southwestern New Mexico, southward into central Mexico.

Winter Range

Winters throughout breeding range, except United States and northern Mexico.

Habitat

Arid scrub, open deciduous forest, semi-desert and other open situations in arid habitats.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Usually 2 eggs. Range: 2-3.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Other Names

Colibri circé (French)
Colibrí pico ancho, Colibrí latirostre (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Powers, D. R., and S. M. Wethington. 1999. Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris). In The Birds of North America, No. 430 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.