Hummingbirds of Colorado

by Scott Rashid, Director, Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute

Two species of hummingbirds nest in Colorado, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird and the Black-chinned Hummingbird. The Broad-tailed Hummingbird nests within the mountains throughout the state and the Black-chinned Hummingbird nests primarily in the western mountains and foothills.

Broadtailed hummingbirds nest

Photo by Marlene Borneman

Hummingbirds are amazing tiny dynamos. Their brains are about the size of a pea, but they are the largest of any bird in the world if you compare the size of the bird to its brain. Hummingbirds have the largest heart of any bird in the world if you compare the size of its heart to the size of the bird.

The Black Chinned Hummingbird

Scott Rashid

Hummingbirds remember every flower that they visit each day and know how long it takes for that flower to rejuvenate nectar before they need to return. Hummingbirds can fly forward, backward, and even upside-down. Hummingbird's feet are so weak that they cannot walk, but rather use their feet for scratching and perching.

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest nesting bird in North America and they have the longest migration of any bird in the world if you compare the size of the bird to the length of its migration. Hummingbird's eyes have more rods and cones in than humans do. Furthermore, hummingbirds have more feathers on their body, per square inch than any other species of bird.

Female broad-tailed hummingbird taking a bath

Photo by Scott Rashid

Hummingbirds feed upon a variety of small insects including gnats, aphids, small spiders, wasps, small butterflies, tree sap, and even sugar water from hummingbird feeders.

When it comes to nest building, nesting, and raising the family female hummingbirds do it all themselves. They find a location to construct their nests, they find the nesting material, construct their nests, lay their eggs, incubate them and raise their families all without the aid of a male.

Female hummingbirds frequently build their nests over water as a way to protect their young from predators. A female hummingbird lay eggs that are about the size of a pea, and they seldom lay more than two eggs per season.

Female broad-tailed hummingbird feeding her fledgling.

Photo by Scott Rashid

Male hummingbirds often arrive on their nesting territories a few days, to weeks before females begin arriving. Males set up and defend their territories from other males, but accept every female that appears.

Female Calliope hummingbird

Photo by Scott Rashid

About July 4th, the Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds begin arriving in Colorado. When we begin seeing these species, they are already on their southern migration. The Rufous Hummingbird is the farthest northern nesting hummingbird in the world. Some individuals nest as far north as Southeastern Alaska, and winter in the Southern United States and Mexico.

The Calliope Hummingbird nests in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, south through parts of Washington State, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and California, and winter in Northern and Central Mexico.

Male Rufous Hummingbird

Photo by Scott Rashid

We are fortunate to have several accidental migrants that occasionally appear in the state on occasion. These include the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Bluethroated, Magnificent, White-eared, Violet-crowned, Costa's, Anna's, and Broad-billed Hummingbirds.

The males of each species have elaborate flight displays that they perform above and in front of the females as a way to impress her enough to want to mate. Once the female has laid her eggs, she incubates them for about two weeks. During this time, she continues to find food for herself. At hatching, the chicks are 100% dependent upon their mother for food, warmth, and protection. After hatching, they remain on their nests for about three weeks before fledgling. After they leave their nests, they remain near them for about two weeks before moving out on their own.

Male broad-tailed hummingbird photo

Photo by Scott Rashid

There are several people throughout the country that research hummingbirds. This research includes trapping and banding the birds as a way to identify individuals to determine their longevity, movements, territory sizes, and nest-site fidelity. Those of us who capture and band hummingbirds need to construct the traps, bands, and all of the instruments that we use to band the birds. Most hummingbirds are captured at feeders using traps designed to have a feeder placed inside. Once a hummingbird enters a trap a door is simply lowered and the birds are captured.

I band about 300 hummingbirds each year and my oldest hummingbird lived to be ten years old. The oldest hummingbird on record lived to be 15 years old. The average male Hummingbird lives about three years and the average female lives between three and seven years.

Artist, researcher, bird rehabilitator, author, and director of a nonprofit are only a few things that describe Scott Rashid. Scott has been pain ng, illustrating and writing about birds for over 30 years. In 2011, Scott created the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute in Estes Park.

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