This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.
At a tad over 3 inches long, the feisty red-and-orange Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) is a tiny warrior, readily attacking birds many times its size, as well as large insects or anything else it perceives as a threat to its territory. It dominates feeders and choice flower patches, chasing away other hummingbird species such as the Calliope Hummingbird.
The Rufous Hummingbird is the most northerly breeding member of the family Trochilidae. It nests from Oregon and Idaho north through much of British Columbia and into southern Alaska, where it is that state’s only hummingbird. The Rufous also holds the “tiny bird” record for one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird its size, traveling up to 3,000 miles to wintering grounds in western Mexican pine and oak woodlands.
Research has revealed that the area of a hummingbird’s brain related to learning and spatial memory — the hippocampus — is proportionately the largest of any bird group studied to date, occupying a percentage of “brain volume” up to five times larger than that found in songbirds, for example. With enhanced spatial memory, the Rufous and other hummingbirds pinpoint prime locations of nectar, their main food source, and keep track of which blooms are at peak, visiting only when the flower provides its richest nectar supply. Remarkably, hummingbirds can also remember feeder locations from previous years, both on their home territories and along their migratory pathways.
Also known as: Saasin (Nuu-chah-nulth/Nootka), Nootka Hummingbird, Zumbador Canelo (Spanish)
Learn more at: https://abcbirds.org/birds/rufous-humming/
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