Hummingbirds of Arizona: Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Male Rufous defending his territory

Young Male Rufous

Female Rufous showing her central patch

Size: The Rufous is a small hummingbird about 3 1/2 inches with a small and straight bill.

Identifying Characteristics: It's orange. Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration. The male has an orange crown, back and belly, with a bright orange gorget as seen in the first photo.  In the second photo the male's gorget actually looks purple. And at still other times it will appear black. These "changes" are the result of "structural colorations" of the feathers caused by light as it is refracted by the proteins in the iridescent feathers.  The female is more buff color but has a distinctive small orange central patch as seen in the third photo. The female also has a green back as seen in the fourth photo.

Habitat: Mountain meadows, forest edges; and during migration garden feeders.

Range: Southeastern Alaska to Oregon, migrating through the other western states to Mexico for the winter.

Seasons: Since Rufous migrates through Arizona, it is typically found in March and April, and then again August and September.

Where To Find: Ash Canyon, Madera Canyon,  and WOW Arizona are probably the most reliable spots. Portal, Miller Canyon, and Ramsey Canyon good second choices. They are more often found in mid-level mountainous areas.

Comments: These little guys (and gals) are ferocious. They will choose a feeder and "claim" it, chasing off any would be intruder even though satiated. Males will open their gorgets as a sign of strength or power, females will wave their tail at opponents. Being orange -- rufous in color makes them stand out, and are really quite beautiful to see and watch.

Hummingbirds of Southern Arizona: Rufous Hummingbird

Other than the Ruby Throated Hummingbird whose ranges is the entire Eastern half of the US and lower Canada, the Rufous would be the next most widespread. At varying points during the year Rufous can be found from Alaska to Central America, from California to Florida, with occasional sightings in the mid-Atlantic states. 

Rufous is one of the more aggressive hummingbirds. I've watched one spend his entire day chasing other hummers away from a particular feeder -- rarely find time for feeding himself.

The male is especially attractive:

Rufous Hummingbird protecting his feeder from a Black Chinned Hummingbird

Madera Canyon: In Short Meditative

Another trip -- this time with Christine -- and this time to Madera Canyon provide very relaxing and even spiritual. We stayed along the creek which had plenty of water and thus plenty of wildlife. 

Here are some of the photos:

Female Hepatic Tanager

Male Hepatic Tanager

The Omni-Present Acorn Woodpecker

Hermit Thrush

Dusky Flycatcher

Canyon Wren

Painted Redstart

White Breasted Nuthatch

Wild Turkey

Rufous Winged Sparrow

Rufous Hummingbird

I got away yesterday and hit San Pedro River, Ash Canyon B&B, and Huachuca Canyon. 

The monsoon rains had pretty much created a muddy, buggy mess at San Pedro. I used a lot of bug spray but still a bit distracting when dozens of mosquitos are constantly flying in your face. I did the walk up and down the river where I could, then walked along the old dirt road. Nothing unusual to report. Got some photos of Tropical and Cassin's Kingbirds, Vermillion Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Common Ground Dove, and a nice Sharp Shinned Hawk.

Then decided to check out Ash Canyon B&B which I haven't been to this year. This was decidedly the best of the day. Lots of visits from male and female Lucifers -- as seen below.

Finally, went to Huachuca Canyon, but by the time I got there it was very overcast -- dark and ominous clouds and few birds to be seen and terrible lighting for a good photo anyway.

So, photos from Ash Canyon B&B: 

Male Lucifer

Female Lucifer

Male and Female Lucifer

Female Rufous

Female Rufous

Female Rufous

Rufous Hummingbird - VI

And, finally the last of the "5" Star Rufous Hummingbird photos comes from Cave Creek Ranch near Portal in the Chiricahua Mountains. This male would not allow any other hummingbird -- including this Black Chinned come near "his" hummingbird feeder:

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird - V

Today, a male Rufous Hummingbird taken at Kubo Cabins in Madera Canyon:

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird IV

And, here is a female Rufous Hummingbird taken in Miller Canyon at Beatty's Guest Ranch:

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird - III

Here is a beautiful female Rufous Hummingbird taken at Ash Canyon B&B in Southern Arizona.

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird - II

Here's another Rufous "5" Star:

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Continuing with my alphabetical series of my ""5" Star Photos we get to the Rufous Hummingbird. which is the most aggressive hummingbird in the US. They are relentless defenders of flowers and feeders that they have staked out for themselves. I've watched in Portal a male Rufous spend nearly 100% of its time chasing away other hummers -- almost never with an opportunity to feed himself. The Rufous is a little more widespread than most other hummers as it is found throughout much of the western US and Canada.

Rufous Hummingbird

More from Ash Canyon

Heading out now for Ramsey Canyon, but a couple more photos from Ash Canyon, this time Rufous: (especially nice detail on the first -- click to enlarge)

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Hummingbird Season in Full Throttle

What started off as a very slow hummingbird season  -- probably due to last year's fires and flooding, has turned out quite nice. Once again there are large numbers of hummers in Miller Canyon and Ash Canyon. Ramsey doesn't have quite the same numbers, but yesterday I saw 7 species within about 30 minutes including the Violet Crowned. In the last two weeks (in Ash Canyon, Miller Canyon, and Ramsey Canyon) I have found eleven different hummingbird species:

Anna's

Black Chinned

Blue Throat

Broad Billed

Broad Tailed

Lucifer

Magnificent

Plain Capped Starthroat

Rufous

White Eared

Violet Crowned

I may have seen a female Costa's don't know for sure. Calliope has been reported at Ash Canyon but I have not seen it. Lots of Broad Tailed Hummingbirds at Ash Canyon, but for some reason I didn't end up with any photos. Plain Capped Starthroat photos weren't up to standard. He showed up at the farthest feeder for 2-5 seconds every hour or so. Just couldn't get the photo I wanted.

Still no reports this year of Berylline. I'll head down to Madera Canyon sometime this week and check it out. Berylline was an "infrequent" visitor there last year. 

Here are a few of my photos from the last two weeks in the Huachuca Mountains:

Anna's Hummingbird

Black Chinned Female

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Broad Billed Hummingbird Female

Lucifer Hummingbird Male

Magnificent Hummingbird Male

Rufous Hummingbird Female

Violet Crowned Hummingbird

White Eared Hummingbird Male

Pairs of Two: Nine

More fighting pairs:

Rufous Hummingbird chasing a Black Chinned Hummingbird (Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona)

Sea Gulls fighting (Puget Sound, Washington)

Rufous Hummingbird

Although I went to Madera Canyon specifically to photograph the Berylline Hummingbird, there were  other hummers present as well. The Rufous is always fun to watch and to photograph. They have such wonderful color and character. Every once in a while, one would fly right up in my face, as in the last photo. Maybe he wanted a closer look at me; maybe he was catching bugs that were buzzing around me.  Don't know, but I got some nice photos:

Rufous Hummingbird Female

Rufous Hummingbird Male

Rufous Hummingbird Male

Rufous Hummingbird Male

Return to Ash Canyon VI

Still showing photos from Ash Canyon. Here a collection of six species photographed one afternoon:

Broad Billed Hummingbird Male

Broad Tailed Hummingbird Male

Rufous Hummingbird Young Male

Calliope Hummingbird Male

Black Chinned Hummingbird Female

Magnificent Hummingbird Male