Family: Trochilidae, Hummingbirds view all from this family

Description 2 3/4-3 1/4" (7-8 cm). The smallest North American hummingbird. Male metallic green above; has white gorget with purple-violet rays, which can be raised to give a whiskered effect. (All other North American hummers have solid-colored gorgets.) Female green above, white below, with dark streaks on throat, buffy flanks, and white-tipped tail corners. Resembles the female Rufous Hummingbird, but smaller, with smaller bill, paler flanks, and less rufous at base of tail.

Habitat Montane and subalpine forest clearings, brushy edges, and alpine meadows.

Nesting 2 bean-sized white eggs, surprisingly large for such a tiny bird, in a small lichen-and-moss nest covered with cobwebs, placed on a limb of a bush or well-protected small tree.

Range Breeds in mountains from interior and southern coastal British Columbia south through Pacific states and east to Colorado. Winters in Mexico.

Voice A high-pitched tsew.

Discussion When defending their feeding flowers or courting a female, male hummers put on a striking spectacle, rising out of sight and then swooping down to buzz their opponent or the female. Each species has its own flight pattern.