Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, Male. Photograph taken in the greater Zihuantanejo area, Guerrero, March 2019. Photograph courtesy of Cheryl Anne Orrell, Montrose, British Columbia, Canada.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, Male. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, May 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, Male. Photograph taken within the greater Palm Springs area of southern California, March 2021. Photography courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, Female. Photograph taken in the greater Zihuatanejo area, Guerrero, March 2019. Photograph courtesy of Cheryl Anne Orrell, Montrose, British Columbia, Canada.

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, Female. Bird photographed within the confines of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, February, 2022. Photograph courtesy of Carol Snow, Del Mar, California. Identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Background and Identification

The Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri, is a member of the Trochilidae Family of Hummingbirds. This species is a small, agile hummingbird known for its unique plumage and rapid flight. In Mexico, they are known as Colibrí Barba Negra.

Black-chinned Hummingbirds are small, ranging from 3.0 g (0.11 oz) to 5.0 g (0.18 oz) in weight. They are a sexually dimorphic species. Males are easily identified by their iridescent black chin and throat, which can appear deep violet in certain lighting, contrasted with a white collar and green upperparts. Females, on the other hand, lack the black throat and have a more subdued grayish-white underpart with greenish upperparts. Both sexes have long, straight bills adapted for nectar feeding and exhibit remarkable aerial acrobatics while foraging.

Habitat and Geographical Range

Black-chinned Hummingbirds inhabit various environments, including deserts, canyons, open woodlands, and suburban gardens. They are especially found in areas with abundant flowering plants, which provide nectar, a significant portion of their diet. In addition to nectar, they consume small insects and spiders for protein.

Geographically, these hummingbirds are found primarily in the western United States, from the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountains to Texas. This species is migratory, with northern populations moving south to Mexico and Central America during winter. In Mexico, they are found in the coastal regions within the Pacific Slope within the extreme northern sections of Baja California and from Culiacan, Sinaloa, south to Acapulco, Guerrero, at elevations up to 2,500 m (8,200 feet). Hummingbirds have extremely high metabolisms and must eat every 10 to 15 minutes to consume enough calories for their high activity level, so they often stop in lowlands along their migration to feed.

Common Misidentifications

The Black-chinned Hummingbird can be confused with other hummingbird species, particularly the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, and Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna. Ruby-throated Hummingbird males have a bright red chin instead of black. The Anna’s Hummingbird, common along the West Coast, has a more extensive iridescent red throat and crown in males. Observing the specific differences in size and coloration can help distinguish the Black-chinned Hummingbird from other hummingbird species.

Conservation Status

From a conservation perspective the Black-chinned Hummingbird is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.