Rufous Hummingbird Classification Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata fish

Rufous Hummingbird

Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata (fish, amphibian, reptiles, birds and mammals) Class: Aves (birds) Order: Apodiformes (swifts & hummingbirds) Family: Trochilidae (hummingbirds) Genus: Selasphorus Species: Selasphorus Rufus (Rufous hummingbird)

Physical Characteristics Both Male & Female: Wingspan: 4. 3 in. Length: 2. 8 -3. 5 in. Weight: 0. 1 -0. 2 oz.

Female: • • Greenish gold crown and back white breast throat has iridescent red spot red tail with black patches and white tips

• • Male: green back red rump and tail white belly and breast throat has green spot with red spot in center

Distribution • • United States Canada Mexico; Turks and Caicos Islands;

Habitat Open Woodlands Shrubby areas and meadows

Conservation status 2009 • Although population is decreasing • Not enough to be Vulnerable • Due to extremely large population: 6, 500, 000

Reproduction • Males attract females with courtship flights • Mating Season: April-June • Males mate with several females • 2 -3 eggs • Start mating the spring after they are born

Parental care • First flight from being born: 20 -30 days • Babies stay with mother for about a year

• Nests are made by just the female • The babies are looked after by the female only

Young male fledglings resemble females

Longevity and mortality • Lifespan: Average 3 -4 years • Oldest recorded: 8 years 11 months • In the captivity the Rufous lives about 3 times longer than in the wild

Seasonal patterns The Rufous hummingbird migrates • Travel 4, 000 miles from breeding grounds • Alaska/North Canada to Mexico

Diet • Feeds on nectar from tubular flowers Examples: Columbine, Indian paint brush, lilies and fireweeds

It also eats gnats, flies, aphids, and spiders for protein.

Consumes up to 3 X its body weight per day Burn up huge amounts of calories— the equivalent to humans: 1, 300 hamburgers a day washed down with 60 liters of water

Predators

Human Relationships • People enjoy feeding/ holding • Feeders beneficial for their long migration trips

Habitat Destruction

Use of pesticides

Humans are seldom a direct threat; but their windows can be deadly.

In class of its own, the feisty Rufous hummingbird

• Hovers like a helicopter

A female rufous hummingbird hovers above water droplets from a backyard fountain.

• Out maneuvers a fighter jet

Can come to a dead from 25 miles per hour, in a space no longer than an index finger.

• More stamina than a top, marathon athlete • About 3, 900 -mile (one-way) from Alaska to Mexico

• Would give competitive eaters a run for their money!

Work cited Burton, Robert. The World of the Hummingbird. Buffalo: Firefly books, 2001. Print. Howell, Steve N. G. Hummingbirds of North America. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003. Print. "The Hummingbird: God’s Tiny Miracle. " Answers in Genesis, 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http: //www. answersingenesis. org/articles/cm/v 14/n 1/hummingbird>. "Hummingbird - Mighty Puffball. " Bird Note, n. d. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. "Hummingbird Quotes. " Bird Quote, 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. <http: //birdquote. com/quote/hummingbird-quotes/>. Johnson, Craig and Joy. Pacific Northwest Birds and Habitat. N. p. : Orange spot Publishing, 2011. Print.