Allen's Hummingbird is a normal summer resident along the California Coast and winter resident of South California. However, it occasionally makes its way into Southern Arizona. Rare enough that it gets listed in the Audubon's Rare Bird Alert. Such was the case on Thursday in Ash Canyon. Allen's are very similar to the Rufous Hummingbird that migrates through Arizona and the southwest to its summer spots in the northwest. We get a few Rufous that seem to hangout in Arizona throughout the summer as well. In any case the difference is the the Allen's male has a very green back, while the Rufous is orange on the back (with a few scattered spangles of green). The females are for all practical purposes identical. The female I saw Thursday I can only suggest was an Allen's because there was a male Allen's and no male Rufous. This was the 15th species of Hummingbird I have photographed here in Arizona.
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| notice the very green back on the Allen's male |
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| notice the wonderful long scarlet gorget on this Allen's male |
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| here is the female Allen's Hummingbird |
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