Hummingbirds, especially in areas where feeders are present, can be popular attractions for tourists to want to visit. Broad-tailed hummingbirds can be incorporated into ecotourism in areas where they are prevalent.
Positive Impacts: ecotourism
Broad-tailed hummingbirds are sexually dimorphic. Males have a metallic iridescent-rose colored gorget, green colored sides and back with some rufous color in the tail. The females are less colorful, lacking a complete gorget, and exhibiting buffy colored sides and a green back. Females are larger than males but body mass can vary during the course of a day based on nectar intake. Juvenile males look like adult females and are difficult to distinguish. (Kaufman, 2000).
Range mass: 3 to 4 g.
Range length: 83 to 97 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Life expectancy is 1.6 years based on the 50% mark on a survivorship curve in males and 1.9 years in females. The highest recorded age for wild females is 12 years and 8 years in males. (Calder and Calder, 1992)
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 12 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 8 to 12 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 1.75 years.
The breeding habitat of broad-tailed hummingbirds includes willows around wet or dry stream beds, pinion, juniper, spruce and oak woodlands. They are known to nest as high as 3,230 m. In their winter range, which overlaps with the breeding range of resident populations in Mexico, broad-tailed hummingbirds use thorn and oak forests at lower elevations, and mixed oak-pine and cypress as well as fir forests at higher elevations. Because of the year-round availability of hummingbird feeders in some areas, some individuals have taken up residence in urban and suburban areas of southwestern United States (Calder and Calder, 1992).
Range elevation: 1,000 to 4,000 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; riparian
Selasphorus platycercus is a migratory species with some resident populations in Mexico. Migratory populations breed in Colorado and Wyoming, while tropical resident populations breed in central Mexico. Their winter range expands from northern Guatemala to northern Mexico. Information on non-migratory populations is lacking (Calder and Calder, 1992).
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Broad-tailed hummingbirds feed on floral nectar and small insects. They usually visit flowers with red tubular corollas like the Scarlet Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata). In the wintering grounds Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are not the dominant species and may have to forage on less preferred flowers. A study done with Ruby Throated, Rufous and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds suggested that there may be an element of observational learning involved in learning to forage on novel food resources. Insects are caught in air as well as by gleaning from foliage. There is a daily steady gain in body mass of individuals from foraging over the course of a day, with a total gain of 30 to 34% of their body mass just before flying to their roosting sites. This large foraging bout before roosting is probably needed to store energy for overnight thermoregulation.
Nectar used by hummingbirds contains large amounts of water that a hummingbird has to pass through its body either by absorbing it into the intestinal tract to be processed by the kidneys or just letting it pass through the tract without absorption. Water intoxication would be a major problem for most vertebrate species under these conditions but hummingbirds are able to excrete large amounts of dilute urine and handle large amounts of water being processed by the kidneys. They do however vary the amount of nectar taken in based on the sugar concentration of that nectar.
Nectar is taken from the following plants: Ipomopsis aggregata, Aquilegia elegantula, A. triternata, Penstemon spp., Castilleja spp., Salvia spp., Echinocereus grandiflorum, Mertensia oblongiforum, Delphinuim nelsoni, Ribes ciliatum, Cestrum terminale, Buddleia dara and Senecio angulifolius.
(Calder and Calder, 1992; Calder, 1994; McWhorter and Martinez del Rio, 1999; Altshuler and Nunn, 2001)
Animal Foods: insects
Plant Foods: nectar
Primary Diet: omnivore
Broad-tailed hummingbirds are important pollinators of the plant species they forage on. (Calder and Calder, 1992).
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
Increased use of feeders help to sustain populations in times of resource scarcity (Calder and Calder, 1992).
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Broad-tailed hummingbirds have a promiscuous mating system in which male and female only interact for copulation. Males may mate with as many as six females in a season. (Calder and Calder, 1992)
Males court females by doing a series of diving displays. A lek display of three males has been observed, but it could have been a misinterpreted territorial stand. After the copulation, the female may stay and preen for a few minutes before flying away. Nests are built by the female alone. Nests take a hemisphere shape with a depression on top. Their inner diameter is 1.9 cm. Eggs are laid in clutches of two. (Calder and Calder, 1992)
Breeding season: May through August
Average eggs per season: 2.
Range time to hatching: 16 to 19 days.
Average fledging age: 25 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous
Average eggs per season: 2.
Female broad-tailed hummingbirds make the nest and raise the young on their own. Ten to twelve days after hatching, females start to roost away from the nest, where there is almost not enough space for the young to huddle together. Females feed young mostly small insects through their development, and then they abandon them to start their south-bound migration (Calder and Calder, 1992).
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care
The broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) is a medium-sized hummingbird species found in highland regions from western United States and Western Canada to Mexico and Guatemala.[3][4]
Medium in size, the broad-tailed hummingbird is 4 inches (10 cm) in length and possesses an overall wingspan of 5.25 inches (13.3 cm). Weighing around 3.6 grams (0.13 oz), the female tends to be slightly larger than the male.[5][6] Adults of both sexes show an iridescent green back, white eye ring and a rounded black tail projecting beyond their wing tips, from which their name was inspired.[5][6]
This species shows sexual dimorphism, which means that male and female have different characteristics. The male possesses a characteristic bright rose-red gorget.[6] An identification characteristic is the white eye ring.[5] The female can be distinguished from the male by her paler coloration, cinnamon flanks, and spotted cheeks absent in the male.[5][7]
The broad-tailed hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus, is a member of the order Apodiformes, in the family Trochilidae. Hummingbird taxonomy has not been extensively studied, but its phylogenic division can be divided as a family into nine clades in which the broad-tailed hummingbird is a member of the "Bee group" and included in the Selasphorus genus. This genus is composed of 6 members taxonomically distinguished based on color characteristics.[8][9][10] This genus is characterized by hummingbirds with a plumage containing rufous coloration and a neck gorget of orange to purple in males.[9]
Members of this genus include:[10][11]
Selasphorus sasin : Allen's hummingbird
Selasphorus rufus : Rufous hummingbird
Selasphorus scintilla : Scintillant hummingbird
Selasphorus ardens : Glow-throated hummingbird
Selasphorus flammula :Volcano hummingbird
On a geographic scale, the genus Selasphorus can be subdivided into 2 groups of species, one living in North America, and a second in the region of Costa Rica and Panama.[9]
This hummingbird is seen in the understory or under tree canopies of pine and oak woodland. It forages in open areas with flowers or in grasslands among trees and shrubs.[3][7] Its breeding habitat is mainly in subalpine meadows, foothills, montane valleys, and stands of aspen or spruce.[12][13]
The broad-tailed hummingbird is found from Guatemala to Mexico, and western United States and Western Canada during summer,[3][4][14][15] while wintering regions are mainly in southern Mexico and Guatemala.[14]
This species exhibits partial migration, depending on the northern range during winter.[14] The specific migratory route used by the broad-tailed hummingbird remains unknown, although migrating populations winter in southern Mexico or Guatemala and return to their breeding area in spring.[12][13][14] Males arrive first to the breeding range, followed by breeding females.[6][12][16] Some populations of the broad-tailed hummingbird in southern Mexico and Guatemala do not migrate, a variation in behavior called "sedentary".[14]
The broad-tailed hummingbird produces several different sound patterns. This bird's call sounds like a sharp “cheet”, which is repeated “cheet cheet cheet cheet...”.[3][7] Hummingbird wing beats have also been found to be a communication signal. These birds produce two different types of sound using their wing beat. The first one is a “wing hum” and is simply produced when the hummingbird flies. This type of wing beat has a sound that ranges from 35 to 100 Hz, and both sexes are able to produce it for communication. The second is “wing trills” produced by the male hummingbird during courtship displays.[17] The wing trill produces a buzzing sound and can be heard 50 m away by other males and 75 m away by other females.[18] This sound is produced when air passes rapidly through the 9th and 10th primary feathers.[17] In one experiment, birds without this wing trill lost their territory more easily to more aggressive birds.[18]
The diet of the broad-tailed hummingbirds consists mainly of insects and nectar of plants that are “hummingbird-flowered”.[19] These types of flower are characterized by high nectar production and red corollas with a tubular shape, such as Aquilegia elegantula.[19]
The range of breeding locations appear to be from central Montana in the north to Guatemala in the south.[4] Although broad-tailed hummingbirds have been seen in British Columbia, these birds appear to be accidental migrants, with no evidence for breeding at such northern latitudes.[4]
The broad-tailed hummingbird has a promiscuous mating system and does not form a pair bond.[13] The reproduction time for broad-tailed hummingbirds correlated with the time flower production is at its peak.[16]
Male perform an aerial display to attract females during the breeding season. Males will fly high and dive while producing a trill sound with their wing feathers.[20]
In 70% of cases, females return to their nest site from one year to the next.[12] Females build their nest alone, without the male help. The overall nest construction may take around 4 to 5 days.[6] The nest has an overall cup shape and is stuck to a tree branch with spider webs, camouflaged by the addition of an external layer of lichen, moss, and tree material.[21] Nest material can be stolen by other females for the construction of a nest.[22]
The female will lay two white eggs of around 1.2–1.5 centimetres (0.47–0.59 in) in length and incubate them alone for around 16 to 19 days.[20] Nest cup diameter increases as the chicks age.[21] Chicks are altricial at their hatch, and will take around 10 to 12 days for feathering.[6] The female will stay with the fledged young up to several weeks.[13]
This species conservation status is “Least Concern ”, indicating it is not an endangered species, having a wide range and moderate population size,[1] although one survey indicated a 52% decline in population between 1966 and 2015.[20] It appears to be adapted to human-modified habitats.[6][20]
The broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) is a medium-sized hummingbird species found in highland regions from western United States and Western Canada to Mexico and Guatemala.
