Hummingbirds of Arizona: Allen's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird:

Size: Allen's is a small hummingbird (3.5 inches) with medium short all black straight bill.

Distinguishing Characteristics: The Allen's male can be distinguished from the Rufous by its green back and crown. The female Allen's and Rufous cannot be distinguished in the field. The R5 tail feather (rectrix) is slightly narrower in the Allen's (on both male and female). You can see this in the last photo above.

Habitat:  Moist coast and riparian forest and woodland, typically only to 1,000 feet (Arizona the obvious exception). 

Range: Allen's has a very small breeding range which was restricted from the Northern California  to Southern Oregon coast. It's range has been expanding into Southern California over the past few years.  It is occasionally found inland but not when breeding.  Allen's sometimes finds its way into the Madrean Sky Island foothills of Southern Arizona. It's winter range is also quite small being restricted to forest edges in Southern Mexico.

Seasons: In Arizona, it's found primarily in July, August, and September.  It's thought that these are migratory birds headed to their wintering location. Allen's winters in a relatively small area in south-central Mexico.

Where to Find: Allen's is rare to Arizona. The first two photos are from Ash Canyon (in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains). Ash Canyon B&B has closed but try Ramsey Canyon. The last photo was from WOW Arizona a privately owned residence near the town of Catalina on the northside of the Catalina Mountains (again in the foothills). Allen's have also been reported in Madera Canyon and Patagonia. Keep an eye on the Audubon Society's Rare Bird Alert and the ABA's Birding News for Arizona and New Mexico.  

Comments: Allen's is typically less aggressive than the Rufous. When found in Arizona there are often Rufous around as well. This makes identifying them a little more difficult -- especially the females.

Hummingbirds of Southern Arizona: Allen's

The hummingbird season is pretty much over, still a few strays, but most just our year round hummers (Anna's and Broad Billed).

So I though for the next 15 days, I'd show one of the 15 hummingbird species that with luck and persistence can be found here during the Hummingbird Season.

Starting with Allen's. Allen's very closely resembles Rufous, especially the females. Normally it is found on West Coast of California during the summer and winters in south central Mexico. But for a brief period in late summer Allen's can be found in Southern Arizona.

The Male Allen's has a green head and back as seen in the following photo:

Allen's Hummingbird

The Joys of Birding -- or so

Once again the ability to accept defeat has surfaced. I spent the last two days photographing --- well, not necessarily photographing -- with some "birding" friends. Thursday we visited: Florida Canyon, Madera Canyon, Montosa Canyon, Amado WTP, Rio Rico Ponds, Kino Springs. Friday we visited WOW Arizona and Incinerator Ridge on Mount Lemmon. What a nice list of birds including townsend's, hermit, yellow, and red-faced warbler; western wood peewee, yellow eyed junco, several vireos, stellar jays, black hawk ---- oh, the list goes on .... 

The best birding spots were Florida Canyon and Mount Lemmon by far. However, I must admit that I didn't come home with one photograph that I would rate a four or five. 

But all those birds were quick looks. Gone in a flash -- or darting around on the backside of bushes and trees.  I wish that birds --- well, didn't have wings. It would make photographing them much easier. On Incinerator Ridge you are walking beneath a forest of pine trees. Unfortunately not much light gets through. Add to that the "flightiness" of birds and you can understand the difficulty.

However, we did see a Berylline Hummingbird in Madera Canyon at Chuparosa Inn. And, there were plenty of hummers including Allen's and Costa's at WOW Arizona. The hummingbirds were my best photos of the past two days. Here are a few:

Berylline Hummingbird

Allen's Juvenile Hummingbird

Costa's male and female fussing

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Black Chinned Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

I took this photo yesterday at WOW Arizona, a wonderful little wildlife heaven just east of the town of Catalina, Arizona. Christopher Vincent with the help of 27 hummingbird feeders, an assortment of various seed feeders, and flowering plants has created a paradise for hundreds of hummingbirds and other wildlife. We don't see a lot of Allen's Hummingbirds here in Arizona, but Christopher has several. Here's is an exquisite immature male Allen"s photo:

Allen's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

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. 

notice the very green back on the Allen's male

notice the wonderful long scarlet gorget on this Allen's male

here is the female Allen's Hummingbird