Lucifer Hummingbird

The Lucifer Hummingbird is a very attractive small hummingbird of about 3 1/2 inches with a very distinctive long decurved bill which sets it apart from other hummingbirds in the US. The male's magenta gorget is also very long and streaked. Buffy flanks and rufous tail are also distinguishing characteristics. They can be found in the Chisos Mountains of Southwestern Texas, and the southern ends of the Chiricahua and Huachuca Mountains of Southeast Arizona. 

To find them in those locations is not easy, though. They are migratory, so only come into the US for the Summer (actually April through September). There are three premier Hummingbird Feeding sites in the Southern end of the Huachucas: Ramsey Canyon, Miller Canyon, and Ash Canyon. These canyons are separated by no more than 7 miles, yet Lucifer will rarely be found in Ramsey or Miller Canyons. With restrictions on hummingbird feeders in Big Bend National Park (Chisos Mountains), Ash Canyon B&B and the hummingbird feeders in Portal on the southeast side of the Chiricahuas remain the only reliable places to find and photograph Lucifer in the US. The key word here is reliable. That is to say if you wanted to find and photograph Lucifer those would be your best if not the only choices.

Lucifers are not abundant and do not hang around the feeders. Typically they fly in, drink from a feeder, then immediately fly away (far out of sight). I have been to Ash Canyon (Bed and Breakfast) several times and been lucky a third of the time. But, I have also talked with others that have spent six hours there without seeing one. This hummer requires patience. First to see one, and second to photograph one hovering or in a tree. Most cameras (and photographers) are not fast enough to auto focus while hovering. So, the trick is to focus on a particular feeder and then recenter on the hummer without changing the focus when one approaches. This means you must be ready at all times. It may be 30 minutes to an hour between visits to a feeder if around at all.

Occasionally you get lucky and one flies up to a branch above the feeder to clean its bill like this male.

And, once in a while one will come to the tree before going to the feeder like this female.

Males will often sit "hunched" like this one.

Courting behavior is unique. Instead of chasing each other like most hummers, they do a face off like this pair. I was able to take five photos of this "action" before they both fly away. Notice how the male extends his gorget out in his courtship routine, similar to some of the 'birds of paradise."
(Click on the photo to enlarge and get a better view).