Family: Trochilidae, Hummingbirds view all from this family

Description 4-4 1/2" (10-11 cm). Male metallic green, with rose-red gorget; green crown; broad tail with little rufous. Female similar to female Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds, but has green central tail feathers; outer tail feathers are rust-colored at base, black in middle, and white on outer tips.

Habitat Mountain meadows, pinyon-juniper woodlands, dry ponderosa pines, fir or mixed forests, and canyon vegetation.

Nesting 2 white eggs in a woven cup nest of lichen and plant down.

Range Breeds in mountains from eastern California and northern Wyoming south through Great Basin and Rocky Mountain states to southern Arizona and western Texas. Winters in Mexico.

Voice   Call is a sharp chick.

Discussion Accounts of this species mention that it nests in the same tree or bush year after year, a phenomenon known as philopatry -- faithfulness to the previous home area. It will return to the same branch and even build a new nest atop an old one.