Birds on a Wire: Blue Throated Hummingbird

The Blue Throated Hummingbird drinks nectar and eats flying insects and spiders. Typically they hawk insects catching them in mid-air while flying or by striking out from perches:

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Hummingbirds of Southern Arizona: Blue Throated Hummingbird

The Blue Throated Hummingbird is one of the largest of the Hummers that come to the US. And, although there have been rare sightings in several southwestern states, it is essentially only found in the southeastern part of Arizona. In particular if you wanted to find one, Portal in the Chiricahua Mountains is the most reliable spot -- even year round. Other than the Chiricahuas, Beatty's Orchard in Miller Canyon seems to attract a few every year.

Blue Throated Hummingbird

The End of the Blues: Last Blue Throat

Miller Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains of Southern Arizona remains the best place to see hummingbirds -- both in terms of species and quantity. It is not unusual to find 10 species in July, August, and September. In 2010, I found and photographed 13 species there. And in terms of quantity, hundreds are not an exaggeration. A survey was done a few years back with an estimate of nearly 6,000 hummingbirds visiting the Beatty's Orchard feeders in a single season.  Today's "5" Star photo is a Blue Throated Hummingbird who was making the rounds of the flowering plants near the feeders.

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Blue Throated Hummingbird - II

This was a fun experience. I was scouring the South Fork, Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains looking for Bear, Elegant Trogon, and Coues Deer having a great time finding all three. But also a nice surprise was this Blue Throated Hummingbird. I looked ahead and saw these beautiful blooming Arizona Thistles, thinking sooner or later I might find a nice butterfly or hummingbird to photograph. So I waited. Not too long a Two-Tailed Swallowtail came by and fed on the very thistle I was next to. Moments later, a Blue Throated Hummingbird came and chased the butterfly away and started feeding as well. I was able to get lots of photos of both. Here''s the one I like best:

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Blue Hummer

The Blue Throated Hummingbird has the largest wingspan of any hummingbird in North America. It's wing beat is also the slowest of any hummer. If you want to see it, you'll need to come to Southern Arizona. (Or the sonoran desert of Mexico). It is a summer visitor in the Huachuca Mountains, frequently seen in Miller Canyon with occasional spottings in Ash Canyon, Ramsey Canyon. It is less often found in Madera Canyon of the Santa Rita Mountains. It is a year round resident in South Fork, Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains. Its numbers, wherever found are small though and patience is  often necessary to find one. The throat obviously is blue, but the tail is also a deep blue. Here is one of my three "5" Star photos:

BlueThroated Hummingbird