Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Photo © Matt Felperin
Photo © Matt Felperin — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #598584484The broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) is a medium-sized hummingbird species found in highland regions from western United States and Western Canada to Mexico and Guatemala. == Description == Medium in size, the broad-tailed hummingbird is 4 inches (10 cm) in length and possesses an overall wingspan of 5.25 inches (13.3 cm). Weighing around 3.6 grams (0.13 oz), the female tends to be slightly larger than the male. Adults of both sexes show an iridescent green back, white eye ring and a rounded black tail projecting beyond their wing tips, from which their name was inspired. This species shows sexual dimorphism, which means that male and female have different characteristics. The male possesses a characteristic bright rose-red gorget. An identification characteristic is the white eye ring. The female can be distinguished from the male by her paler coloration, cinnamon flanks, and spotted cheeks absent in the male. === Vocalizations === The broad-tailed hummingbird produces several different sound patterns. This bird's call sounds like a sharp "cheet", which is repeated "cheet cheet cheet cheet...". Hummingbird wing beats have also been found to be a communication signal. These birds produce two different types of sound using their wing beat. The first one is…
Big Bend National Park
Brewster County, United States
+345 birds+34 mammals
Where the Chisos Mountains rise abruptly from the Sonoran Desert floor, Big Bend National Park spans over 7,300 square kilometers of one of North America's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCanyonlands National Park
Wayne County, United States
+186 birds+15 mammals
Where the Colorado River has carved an intricate labyrinth through the high desert plateau of southeastern Utah, Canyonlands National Park sprawls across nearly 3,030 square kilometres…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSaguaro National Park
Rincon Valley, United States
+354 birds+40 mammals
Where the Sonoran Desert meets sky-island mountains, two geographically separated districts of Saguaro National Park sprawl across nearly two thousand square kilometers of Arizona's most iconic…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Basin National Park
White Pine County, United States
+170 birds+19 mammals
Where the Great Basin's high desert plateaus rise above 10,000 feet, ancient bristlecone pines endure on moonscape ridges of limestone and quartzite, creating one of North…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCarlsbad Caverns National Park
Eddy County, United States
+309 birds+18 mammals
Beneath the Chihuahuan Desert floor of southern New Mexico lies one of North America's most spectacular subterranean landscapes. Carlsbad Caverns National Park encompasses over 518 square…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKArches National Park
Grand County, United States
+185 birds+20 mammals
Where rust-red sandstone fins rise abruptly from high desert scrubland, Arches National Park spans 548 square kilometers of one of North America's most sculptural landscapes. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKZion National Park
Washington County, United States
+244 birds+30 mammals
Towering sandstone cliffs in shades of crimson, rust, and cream rise abruptly from the Virgin River's winding canyon floor, their sculpted faces bearing witness to millions…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMesa Verde National Park
Montezuma County, United States
+166 birds+10 mammals
Across the high desert plateau of southwestern Colorado, where sandstone mesas rise abruptly from piñon-juniper scrubland, Mesa Verde National Park preserves one of North America's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGreat Sand Dunes National Park
Saguache County, United States
+193 birds+14 mammals
Where the Colorado high plains collide with one of North America's most extraordinary geological anomalies, nearly 600 square kilometres of windswept sand rise abruptly from the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCapitol Reef National Park
Garfield County, United States
+196 birds+22 mammals
Wrinkled ridges of crimson and gold sandstone rise from the floor of south-central Utah, their weathered faces carved by the Fremont River into one of the…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGrand Teton National Park
Teton County, United States
+247 birds+38 mammals
Where the Teton Range tears skyward in a dramatic escarpment above the Snake River valley, nearly 2,550 square kilometers of montane wilderness unfolds across Teton County,…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKYellowstone National Park
Park County, United States
+253 birds+43 mammals
Across nearly 11,400 square kilometres of the Rocky Mountain plateau, geothermal fury and pristine wilderness converge in one of Earth's most dynamic landscapes. Hot springs, geysers…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBlack Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Montrose County, United States
+169 birds+13 mammals
Where the Gunnison River has carved one of North America's steepest and most dramatic canyons, ancient metamorphic rock walls plunge nearly 2,000 feet in places, creating…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRocky Mountain National Park
Larimer County, United States
+259 birds+33 mammals
Where granite peaks rise above 12,000 feet and alpine tundra gives way to subalpine forest, Rocky Mountain National Park spans the Continental Divide across nearly 1,600…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKDeath Valley National Park
Inyo County, United States
+339 birds+25 mammals
Across nearly 3.5 million acres of southeastern California's Inyo County, vast salt flats meet sculpted badlands and alluvial fans in a landscape so extreme it defines…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKLagunas de Montebello National Park
Laguna de Montebello, Mexico
+360 birds+2 mammals
Where turquoise lagoons pierce the limestone plateau of southeastern Chiapas, the Lagunas de Montebello National Park unfolds across roughly 174 square kilometers of spectral water and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Benito Juárez
San Andrés Huayápam, Mexico
+128 birds+4 mammals
High in the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca, where cloud forest mingles with pine woodland and the terrain climbs steeply through ravines carved by mountain…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKTutuaca
Tosanachi, Mexico
+147 birds+13 mammals
Where copper canyons plunge deeper than the Grand Canyon itself, Mexico's remote Sierra Madre Occidental unfolds in dramatic vertical relief. Tutuaca anchors this wilderness realm, a…
VIEW PROTECTED LANDSCAPEBryce Canyon National Park
Tropic, United States
+202 birds+20 mammals
Hoodoos rise like a forest of stone pillars from an amphitheater carved into Utah's high plateau, where the Paunsaugunt elevates the landscape to over 9,000 feet…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGrand Canyon National Park
United States
+277 birds+35 mammals
A mile-deep chasm of rust-red rock and purple shadow cuts through the high desert plateau of northern Arizona, revealing nearly two billion years of geological history…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGuadalupe Mountains National Park
Culberson County, United States
+262 birds+14 mammals
Where fossil-laden limestone ridges thrust skyward above the Chihuahuan Desert floor, Guadalupe Mountains National Park reveals a landscape sculpted by ancient seas and relentless aridity. These…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPetrified Forest National Park
Apache County, United States
+206 birds+23 mammals
Across the high desert plateau of northeastern Arizona, where the climate swings between scorching summer days and frost-laden winters, badlands of raw earth and timber-turned-to-stone dominate…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWhite Sands National Park
Otero County, United States
+178 birds+6 mammals
Across the Tularosa Basin in south-central New Mexico sprawls an otherworldly landscape of gypsum dunes—the largest gypsum field on Earth and a stark desert playground shaped…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKWind Cave National Park
Custer County, United States
+175 birds+13 mammals
Beneath the rolling prairie of the Black Hills, a network of passages carved through limestone creates one of North America's most extensive cave systems. Wind Cave…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Socorro County, United States
+345 birds+17 mammals
Where the Rio Grande emerges from its desert canyon in central New Mexico, a narrow ribbon of riparian woodland defies the arid landscape that surrounds it.…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYMalheur National Wildlife Refuge
Harney County, United States
+309 birds+24 mammals
Across the high desert plateau of southeastern Oregon, where sagebrush scrubland stretches toward distant ridgelines under an enormous sky, lies a sanctuary shaped by water in…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBear River Migratory Bird Refuge
Box Elder County, United States
+254 birds+9 mammals
Where the Bear River winds through the semi-arid basin country of northwestern Utah, a sprawling wildlife sanctuary transforms the high desert into a haven for migratory…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYSeedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Sweetwater County, United States
+209 birds+8 mammals
Where the Green River carves through the high-desert basin of southwestern Wyoming, Seedskadee National Wildlife Sanctuary preserves one of the West's most vital riparian corridors. The…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYNational Elk Refuge
Jackson, United States
+230 birds+27 mammals
Where the sagebrush flats of northwestern Wyoming rise toward the Gros Ventre Mountains, winter transforms the landscape into a realm of survival and spectacle. The National…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYRed Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Beaverhead County, United States
+216 birds+10 mammals
Where the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem's northern reaches meet the high plateaus of southwestern Montana, a network of glacial lakes and wetlands sustains one of the continent's…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Chaves County, United States
+284 birds+10 mammals
Across the high desert floor of southeastern New Mexico, where elevation and aridity shape every living thing, shallow alkaline lakes and marshes form an unexpected oasis…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYNo community photos yet. Log in to add the first one.
No community observations of this species yet.