Family: Trochilidae, Hummingbirds view all from this family

Description 3 1/4-3 3/4" (8-10 cm). A small hummingbird. Male green above with iridescent black chin underlined by violet-purple throat band. Female green above with white throat and breast, buff sides, and white-tipped outer tail feathers. See Costa's Hummingbird. In East, female not distinguishable in field from female Ruby-throated.

Habitat Mountain and alpine meadows, woodlands, canyons with thickets, chaparral, and orchards.

Nesting 2 white eggs in a nest of fluffy plant wool and lichens woven together with spider webs, placed in a shrub or low tree.

Range Breeds from British Columbia south throughout West to Mexico and central Texas. Winters in Mexico.

Voice   A low tup.

Discussion The male Black-chinned, like all hummingbirds, maintains a mating and feeding territory in spring. He courts his female with a dazzling aerial display involving a pendulum-like flight pattern. When mating interest wanes, the male often takes up residence elsewhere, near a good food supply. Later, when plant blooming and insect swarming subside, the birds move south.