Black-chinned Hummingbird: Identification, Range, and Behavior

Quick Facts

Scientific name: Archilochus alexandri

Length: about 3.5 inches, with a wingspan around 4.3 inches

Weight: 2.3 to 4.9 grams, typically around 3 to 3.5

Range: breeds from southern British Columbia south through the western United States to Texas and Mexico; winters mainly in western Mexico

Population: around 8.8 million, increasing by about 0.3 percent a year since 1966

Longevity record: a female of at least 11 years and 2 months, recaptured in Texas in 2008

Conservation status: Least Concern, and rated 9 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score

How to Identify a Black-chinned Hummingbird

The male is, most of the time, exactly what his name says: a hummingbird with a plain black throat. The name describes what you usually see rather than what is actually there. Below that black chin sits a narrow band of iridescent violet-purple, and it only ignites when the light strikes at the right angle. Miss that moment and the bird simply looks black-throated.

Below the purple band is a clean white collar, and above it a metallic green back. The tail is forked. The overall impression is a fairly plain, dark-throated hummingbird, until the light catches and a thin violet stripe appears from nowhere. The guide to why hummingbirds are so colourful explains that vanishing act.

The female is subtle and best identified by what she lacks. Her underparts are whitish with almost no buff or rusty tones anywhere, at most a very faint wash on the flanks. Her throat is plain white, sometimes with fine dusky speckling, and her back is dull green. That absence of warm tones is the useful part. It rules out the Selasphorus hummingbirds like Rufous and Allen’s, which always show rufous on the flanks and tail.

The best behavioural clue applies to both sexes, and it is one of the most useful field marks in western hummingbird watching. Black-chinned Hummingbirds pump and bob their tails while hovering, noticeably more than other species. A hummingbird whose tail will not sit still is very often this one.

Similar Species

Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the close relative and, on paper, the hardest to separate, particularly females and immature males, which look nearly identical. In practice the ranges barely overlap. Ruby-throats hold the East, Black-chinneds the West, with the boundary running roughly along the 100th meridian. Geography does most of the work for you.

Anna’s Hummingbird overlaps widely in the West but is easily separated. The male Anna’s has a rose-pink crown and throat, and the female Anna’s usually shows a red throat patch. Anna’s is also stockier with a shorter bill.

Costa’s Hummingbird has a violet gorget too, but a far more extensive one. It flares down the sides of the neck into a pointed moustache, rather than the Black-chinned’s thin band.

For the wider picture, the field guide to North American species sets out the whole cast.

Range and Habitat

Black-chinneds breed from southern British Columbia and central Oregon and Washington south through California’s eastern edge, the Great Basin, the Rockies, the Southwest and into western and southern Texas. They winter primarily along the west coast of Mexico and into the interior.

What sets the species apart is habitat tolerance. It nests in desert washes and arroyos, riparian corridors along streams and rivers, oak and pine woodland, canyons, and ordinary suburban gardens. Cornell calls it one of the most adaptable of all hummingbirds, found in urban areas and recently disturbed habitat as well as pristine ones. It shows a similar flexibility about food, adapting its foraging to whatever is available rather than specialising.

The one habitat preference worth noting is water. Black-chinneds favour sheltered sites near streams and rivers, which is why desert riparian corridors are such reliable places to find them. In the arid West, protecting streamside habitat is the single most useful thing for this species.

Two range notes. Unlike Anna’s, this species is strictly migratory and almost entirely absent from the West in winter, which makes a mid-winter western hummingbird much more likely to be an Anna’s. And many Black-chinneds now winter along the Gulf Coast of the United States, in oak-shaded country, a genuine and increasing shift. An out-of-place hummingbird in Louisiana or Texas in January is worth a second look, and the Southeast guide covers those winter surprises.

Behavior and Breeding

Black-chinneds are less relentlessly aggressive than a Rufous, but they are still territorial around good food, and males will defend a productive patch of flowers or a feeder.

The female builds and raises alone, as in every hummingbird species. Her nest is a compact, deep cup of plant down bound with spider silk and cocoon fibres, placed relatively low. Most are found around 6 feet up and rarely above 12, usually on an exposed horizontal dead branch below the canopy and often near water. The cup stretches wider and shallower as the nestlings grow, and birds in cooler regions build thicker walls.

She lays two eggs, incubates them for 12 to 16 days, and the young leave the nest about 21 days after hatching. She may raise anywhere from one to three broods in a season. That is the most of any hummingbird covered on this site, and a large part of why the species does so well. The full breeding cycle is covered separately.

Their diet is the usual hummingbird mix of nectar, small insects and spiders, and sugar water at feeders. This species is notably opportunistic about all of it, and the balance between nectar and insects matters here as much as anywhere.

A Species That Is Doing Well

This is worth stating plainly, because it is unusual.

Breeding Bird Survey data show Black-chinned Hummingbird populations increasing by about 0.3 percent a year between 1966 and 2019. Partners in Flight estimates 8.8 million birds and scores the species 9 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, which is a species of low concern.

Set that against the Rufous Hummingbird, a specialist that has lost 72 percent of its population over roughly the same period and scores 14 out of 20. Two hummingbirds sharing much of the same western landscape, going in opposite directions. The difference is largely that one of them can live in a suburb.

Cornell notes that local increases correlate with hummingbird gardens and feeders. That is a direct result of what people plant and hang up, which is also the theme of the article on threats to hummingbirds and how you can help.

Attracting Black-chinned Hummingbirds

Few hummingbirds take to gardens as readily. They come freely to sugar-water feeders and flower gardens, and they nest in backyards throughout their range.

Put a clean feeder out ahead of their spring arrival, plant tubular nectar flowers suited to your region, and skip broad-spectrum pesticides so their insect prey remains. If you have a water feature, so much the better, given their affinity for riparian settings.

The guide to attracting hummingbirds covers planting and placement. The nectar recipe and feeder care page covers what goes in the feeder and how often to clean it. For local timing, see when to put feeders out and take them down.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I identify a Black-chinned Hummingbird?

Males have a black throat with a narrow iridescent violet band beneath it, visible only in good light, above a white collar. Females are whitish below with almost no buff tones. Both pump their tails while hovering, which is a strong clue.

Why is it called black-chinned if the throat is purple?

Because the purple is a narrow iridescent band that only shows at the right angle. Most of the time the throat genuinely does look plain black.

How do I tell a Black-chinned from a Ruby-throated?

Range does most of the work. Ruby-throats occupy the East and Black-chinneds the West, meeting around the 100th meridian. Females and immatures of the two are otherwise very difficult to separate.

Do Black-chinned Hummingbirds stay through winter?

Not in the West, where they are almost entirely absent. Many do winter along the Gulf Coast, in oak-shaded country, and that number is growing.

Where do Black-chinned Hummingbirds nest?

Relatively low, most often around 6 feet up and rarely above 12, on an exposed horizontal branch below the canopy and often near water. The female builds a cup of plant down bound with spider silk and raises the young alone.

How long do Black-chinned Hummingbirds live?

The oldest on record was a female of at least 11 years and 2 months, recaptured during banding in Texas in 2008. That is among the longest lifespans recorded for any hummingbird.

Are Black-chinned Hummingbirds common?

Yes, and increasing. The population is around 8.8 million and has risen by about 0.3 percent a year since 1966. Broad habitat tolerance, including suburbs, is the main reason.

Conclusion

The Black-chinned Hummingbird does not have the Rufous’s epic migration or the Anna’s winter defiance or the Ruby-throated’s ocean crossing. What it has is adaptability, and in a century that keeps rearranging habitats, that is turning out to be the most valuable trait of all. While the Rufous has lost nearly three quarters of its population, this one has quietly gained ground. It lives in the desert and the mountains and the middle of town, and feeds on whatever is available. It also pumps its tail while it hovers, which is how you will know it.