Condensed Profile Of The Allen’s Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)
Standing at a small 3" to 3 1/2", the adult male Allen's Hummingbird is quite colorful. His sides are a cinnamon-like color. Furthermore, he has a rusty dark tail, as well as rump. His cheeks and his throat are a deep-orange color. The male's bronze-green back, head, and wings are accentuated with an amazing metallic shimmer. The adult female, on the other hand, has a bronze-green top with rusty pale sides, and her throat is a whitish color.
The male Allen's Hummingbird puts on exceptional airborne courting flights... He begins his aerial display with a warm-up sequence of low arcs, punctuated with buzzing and squeaking at the bottom of each arc. Then he climbs vertically as though shot with a sling shot, zipping high into the air, and then diving abruptly back towards the earth. Right at the base of the dive there's a noisy ripping sound ("vrrrp"), most likely generated by air surging through his tail feathers.
Female Allen's Hummingbird nesting habits... She is very particular when it comes to the perfect nesting spot. She searches in thickets and clusters of trees, favoring vine tangles, live oaks, or eucalyptus for nesting sites.
Breeding and winter locations of the Allen's Hummingbird... You will find them along the California coast as well as on coastal islands during breeding months. The northern regions, towards the Oregon border, is another preferred breeding area for them. In winter they will be found in the northwestern parts of Mexico, but some stragglers have actually been seen as far as Alabama, Louisiana, as well as in British Columbia. This is most likely due to heavy storms.
Environments preferred by the Allen's Hummingbird... The Allen's habitats are reasonably varied and they seem fonder of gardens where there are open spaces and good vegetation. They can often be seen around golf courses and city parks; along rivers and stream areas; bushy areas with willows, poison oak, and dogwood; all along the bottom of canyons; and often along mountain meadows. The male tends to stake out locations where it is very shrubby, and the females prefer groupings of blackberry thickets, dense vegetation and willows.
Plant life favored by the Allen's Hummingbird... They are attracted to all nectar blossoms, particularly these... Agave, century plant (Agave americana); Indian paintbrushes (Castilleja spp.); California lilacs (Ceanothus spp.); California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica) in late summer through fall; Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp., especially L. involucrata); Monkey flowers (Mimulus spp.); and Tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca).
More ways to distinguish the Allen's Hummingbird... These techniques are necessary if you plan on finding and identifying any Allen's hummingbirds out in the fields and around feeders. There are not too many differences between the Rufous and the Allen's, so you will have to look closely. They both seem very similar from the front, but the real difference is their backs. The Rufous has a rust-colored back, but the Allen's has a green-feathered one. The females also look almost exactly alike, and it is only possible for experts to distinguish between them. The outer feathers in the tail of the female Allen's Hummingbird is narrower than that of the Rufous female.
Have a look at NameThatHummingbird.com for more photos and the most recent stories concerning Allen's Hummingbird along with the Rufous Hummingbird. See for yourself how alike the two hummingbird species are.
