SCIENTIFIC NAME
Selasphorus rufus
DESCRIPTION
Approximately 9.5 cm long. Adult male upperparts are mainly reddish-brown with dull green on the top of their head and a white patch behind the eyes. Their throat is iridescent orange-red and has white at the top of their breast and parts of the belly; the rest of its underparts are reddish-brown. Adult females are similar to males but paler and greener; their throat is white with dark and/or iridescent spots of orange-red. Immature birds resemble the females, but immature males start to show reddish-brown upperparts before their throat colours develop.
RANGE
British Columbia, western Alberta
HABITAT
Found in a variety of habitats including mountain meadows, forests, woodlands, edges, open shrubby areas, gardens, parks and swamps.
DIET
They drink floral nectar from tubular flowers such as wild columbines (Aquilegia spp.), lilies, penstemons (Penstemon spp.), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) and Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp.). They also drink sap from sapsucker holes and eat insects and spiders caught in flight or foraged from leaves, tree bark or webs.
BEHAVIOUR
undefinedPRIMARY ECOSYSTEM ROLES
- Pollinator - While they don’t eat much pollen, Canada’s hummingbirds nevertheless help transfer any that get on their upper body as they move from flower to flower.
- Insect control
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