Black-chinned hummingbird Archilochus alexandri

Identification Tips:

• Small hummingbird
• Long, straight, thin bill

Adult male:

• Bright green back and crown
• Entirely dark tail
• White underparts with greenish flanks
• Black face, chin, and upper throat
• Iridescent purple gorget at lower throat

Female/Immatures:

• Green back and crown
• White chin and throat with variable amounts of thin dark streaking
• White underparts
• Dark tail with white tips on outer tail feathers

Similar species:

Males unmistakable with a good view. Females are similar to a number of other female hummingbirds, and are best told from the Calliope Hummingbird and species in the genus Selasphorus by their lack of rufous on the flanks and in the tail. Anna's Hummingbirds are larger and have grayer chests, while Costa's Hummingbirds differ only in subtleties of facial pattern and tail pattern. Black-chinned Hummingbird females are not safely separable from female Ruby-throateds except in the hand. Best told from all species except Ruby-throated Hummingbird by call.