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Winged Jewels - Hummingbirds of Winter

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Western Hummingbirds in Louisiana

Did you know that some species of hummingbirds spend the winter in the southern United States? Yes, it's true. In backyards and habitats all over the south species such as Rufous, Allen's, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Calliope, Buff-bellied and several other of these tiny birds migrate from their homes in the western U.S. to places in Louisiana and many other southern states.

Through the years, we've been lucky enough to host six different species of hummingbirds during the winter. When we were living in Baton Rouge, our yard was full of Rufous hummingbirds from November through March. This page will tell you more about being a winter hummingbird host and also about the different species that you may encounter.

Contents at a Glance

Hummingbird Watching - a Year-round Hobb...
Rufous Hummingbirds
Banding a Rufous and Fall Migration
Rufous Hummingbird Photos
Allen's Hummingbirds
Broad-tailed hummingbird
Hummingbirds of North America
Calliope Hummingbird
Calliope Photos on Flickr
Field Guide to N.A. Hummingbirds
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Hummingbird Gardens
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Hummingbird Gardening
Droll Yankee Hummingbird Feeder
Banding Hummingbirds
Binoculars and Cameras at Amazon

There are several species of hummingbirds that spend the winter in Louisiana and other southern states.

Hummingbird Watching - a Year-round Hobby in the South

This immature black chinned hummingbird had a deformed beak, but it was able to drink from feeders and flowers and spent one winter in our yard in Baton Rouge.

In the southern United States, including Louisiana where we live, fall and winter often brings prized winged visitors to yards and habitats. They are the western hummingbirds.

Since the 1990's, when we lived in Baton Rouge, we regularly hosted a variety of species of hummingbirds during the winter. Our list to date includes: Rufous, Allen's, Black-chinned, Calliope, Buff-bellied, Broad-tailed and of course Ruby-throated. There are sightings of many other species, in other yards here in South Louisiana and throughout the south.

Rufous Female Hummingbird by naturegirl7

The normal winter home for most individuals of these western species is Mexico, but for some reason some choose to spend the winter in the southern United States. Most hummingbird enthusiasts leave their hummingbird feeders up and filled with fresh sugar water (4 to 1 or 3 to 1 water to white sugar ratio) year round. They also plant their gardens with hardy plants that bloom at different times during the year, some even in winter. A few really obsessive enthusiasts have elaborate movable "greenhouses" consisting of large sheets of plastic on rolls that they can roll out over their blooming plants if a freeze is expected and then roll back when the ever changing weather gets warm again.

Female Rufous Hummingbird by naturegirl7

In Louisiana, a hummingbird is considered to be a "winter" hummingbird if it is observed after November 15 through early spring (March) when the Ruby-throated hummingbirds return to their breeding grounds here in the United States.

Buy hummingbird by WorldDesign

I'd like to share some photos, facts and stories about some of the beautiful little birds that have graced us with a winter visit. It is indeed an event each time it happens and is announced on all the hummingbird forums. The local banders are contacted so that they can verify and band the bird. It's not uncommon for birds to return year after year and the band assures their identification plus the data that is collected contributes to the study that the USGS Banding Lab is coordinating while tracking the movements of some of our smallest birds.

I have included only the species that we have hosted during the winter. There are several others that also spend the winter in the south, but have not graced us with a visit. I will try to include some of these at a later date.

Rufous Hummingbirds

Selasphorus rufus

Rufous are the most common of the wintering hummingbirds. In Baton Rouge, we normally had 5-6 Rufous each winter. They are bold and attractive little birds with a angry sounding tsk call. Rufous seem to be scolding you for disturbing them. The males are mostly cinnamon colored with an orange-red gorget (throat) and the females have green backs, with pale cinnamon sides, dark red in their tail feathers and many have a few red-orange feathers in a circle on their throat.

Our first winter hummingbird was an immature Rufous and we got to see him molt into the beautiful colors of an adult male. Dave Patton banded him and most of the other wintering hummingbirds at our house in Baton Rouge.

In Covington, during the winter of 2009-2010 an immature female rufous spent the winter with us. Linda Beall banded her in February and we documented the entire banding session in the lens below.

Banding a Rufous and Fall Migration

Rufous Female in Bush by naturegirl7

Rufous Hummingbird Photos

Buy Rufous Hummingbird by SweetRascal

Buy Rufous #1 and Rufous #2 Hummingbird by WildThings
Buy in tree by Nicole_Hodgeboom_Pic

Allen's Hummingbirds

Selasphorus sasin

Allen's and Rufous are so much alike (especially the females) that it takes an expert to tell them apart. The males usually have more green on their backs than the male Rufous and the Allen's tail feathers are shorter, thinner and more pointed than those of the Rufous. We hosted one immature male Allen's in Baton Rouge.

Buy Allen's Hummingbird Poster by naturalphotos

Broad-tailed hummingbird

Selasphorus platycercus

Broad-tailed hummingbirds look something like Ruby-throated hummingbirds, except the tail is much broader and has dark rusty-red bands at the base of the tail feathers. The male's gorget is more rosy red than crimson. Their call sounds like a distant Cardinal. Female Broad-tails look a lot like female Rufous as they are both Selasphorus.

Buy hummingbird by WorldDesign

Buy Broad Tail by craftworker

Hummingbirds of North America

This is my favorite hummingbird field guide. The photographs are very good and the way that it is organized makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide

by: Steve N. G. Howell

Amazon Price: $18.71 (as of 06/01/2012)

Calliope Hummingbird

Stellula calliope

Calliope hummingbirds are the smallest of all hummingbirds that breed in the U.S. They are very round with a short neck and tail. Some say they look like a feathered ping-pong ball with a head. Males are quite beautiful with bright green above and creamy white below and a wine red to reddish purple iridescent gorget. Females are similar (without the beautiful gorget) and have pale cinnamon sides. A feisty little female spent the whole winter with us in Covington in 2002. Calliopes are usually quiet, almost secretive birds, but our female acted more like a Rufous. She was banded by Linda Beall.

Buy Calliope Hummingbird Mousepad by Tenderstorm

Calliope Photos on Flickr

Field Guide to N.A. Hummingbirds

This is also a great field guide with many color photos showing the heads, tails, wings, etc. of the different species.

A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America (Peterson Field Guides)

by: Sheri Williamson

Amazon Price: $6.55 (as of 06/01/2012)

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Buff bellied Hummingbird in Louisiana during Winter Amazilia yucatanensis

Buff-bellied hummingbirds are larger than a Ruby-throated and much more colorful. They are easily recognized by their red bill with a black tip, green to turquoise bib, buff belly and large copper colored tail. They are aggressive and territorial and can be heard making noises that sound like arcing electricity. In Baton Rouge, one showed up right before Christmas in 2000 and stayed until almost spring. It was banded by Dave Patton.

Buy Buff-bellied Postcard by naturegirl7

Hummingbird Gardens

In order to sustain winter hummingbirds you must have food in the form of nectar and insects available. Hummingbird feeders will help, but a garden with some hardy, nectar rich flowers and plenty of tiny insects is a must.This is one of my favorite books about hummingbird gardens.

Hummingbird Gardens

by: Nancy Newfield, Barbara Nielsen

Amazon Price: $54.30 (as of 06/01/2012)

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Archilochus alexandri

Black-chinned Hummingbirds are a little larger than Ruby-throats. The females look almost identical in the field. The males, however, are easier to identify because of their deep purple gorget feathers. They sound a lot like Ruby-throateds, too. In flight, Black-chinneds pump their tail, almost constantly. We had a couple stay with us. An immature male (photo of him drinking from the strawberry feeder top of the page) in Baton Rouge and an unusual female here in Covington. The male was banded by Dave Patton and the female by Linda Beall.

Buy Hummingbird postcard by melthompson
Female Black Chinned Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

The Ruby-throated hummingbird is our only breeding hummingbird, east of the Rockies. Sometimes immature birds, probably hatched in the northern states, will spend the winter in Covington and other parts of South Louisiana. For more information about Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Hummingbird gardening, visit our "Hummingbirds and Gardening for Them" lens that is featured below.

Buy Ruby-throated Hummingbird After Chase by naturegirl7

Ruby-throat Sips Poster by naturegirl7

Buy Hummingbird by bpmcwill

Hummingbird Gardening

This lens is about Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as well as hummingbird gardening.

Droll Yankee Hummingbird Feeder

Hummingbird Feeder - 10 ounce - $ 26.45
10 oz. Hummingbird Feeder with 4 ports and perches. 4 Port Hummingbird Feeder with Internal Ant Moat, Dependably Durable, Pole Mountable.

Banding Hummingbirds

People who band hummingbirds must go through an apprentice program with a veteran (permitted by the USGS) master bander. Each time a bird is banded, the number is recorded along with the location, measurements and description of each bird. All this data is reported to the USGS banding lab, so that whenever the bird is recaptured, the band number and data is reviewed and the original bander is notified of the recapture.

We are extremely fortunate to have a good friend of ours, Linda Beall, who is a licensed master bander living right here in Covington. Linda's Humbander website is filled with information about banding both winter and breeding season hummingbirds.

Our Hummers in the Habitat page also gives more information about banding winter hummingbirds with photos showing the whole process. More photos and information can be found on our lens, Mizell's Hummingbird and Butterfly Festival and on Banding a Hummingbird.

Binoculars and Cameras at Amazon

Add you own favorite to the list

Good binoculars make all the difference in bird identification. If you want to take good photos of birds, you need a camera with a minimum 12X optical zoom. The Canon S5IS is what we used to take many of the photos that you see in this lens.

Winged Jewels - Hummingbirds of Winter

Western Hummingbirds in Louisiana

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Hummingbird Watching - a Year-round Hobby in the South

Rufous Hummingbirds

Banding a Rufous and Fall Migration

Rufous Hummingbird Photos

Allen's Hummingbirds

Broad-tailed hummingbird

Hummingbirds of North America

Calliope Hummingbird

Calliope Photos on Flickr

Field Guide to N.A. Hummingbirds

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Hummingbird Gardens

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Hummingbird Gardening

Droll Yankee Hummingbird Feeder

Banding Hummingbirds

Binoculars and Cameras at Amazon

Add you own favorite to the list

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Naturally Native Hummingbirds at Zazzle

Audubon Hummingbird 500 Piece Puzzle

Hummingbirds on Amazon

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Hummingbird Haven - Hundreds of Hummers

Hooked on Hummingbirds DVD

Hummingbird YouTube Videos

Hummingbirds on eBay

Other Hummingbird and Planting for Birds Lenses

Please don't hum by without leaving us a note.

Tchefuncte Hummingbird Hill Habitat Diary

Our Blog

Best of Naturally Native Squids Blog

Vote for This Lens

Winter Hummingbird Blog Posts

Some More Good Hummingbird Links

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