The year-round warm weather in Florida and its relative proximity to Mexico and the Caribbean islands make it possible for hummingbirds to visit it. Of the 338 species known, 16 are found in the United States.
There are said to be 14 species of hummingbirds in Florida.
| Image | Name |
|---|---|
 | Broad-tailed Hummingbird |
 | Ruby-throated hummingbird |
 | Rufous Hummingbird |
 | Allen's Hummingbird |
 | Buff-Bellied Hummingbird |
 | Black-chinned Hummingbird |
 | Blue-throated Mountain Gem |
 | Mexican Violetear |
 | Bahama Woodstar |
 | Anna's Hummingbird |
 | Costa's Hummingbird |
 | Calliope Hummingbird |
 | White-eared Hummingbird |
 | Broad-billed Hummingbird |
Types of Hummingbirds in Florida
1. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Although small, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are intermediate for something like a North American hummingbird. They have a long, straight bill, a slim body, and a large head.
The Broad-tailed Hummingbird has an unusually long tail for a hummingbird, reaching further than wingtips when seated. It is luminous greenish above with green or buffy flanks and a white breast and lines down the belly.
A rose-magenta neck patch is present in adult males (gorget). Green markings on the necks and cheeks of females and adolescents, as well as a light eyering.
Habitat & Food
Hummingbirds with broad tails zip from blossom to flower, staying above them to sip nectar. These birds mate in the west of the United States in elevated grasslands shrubby habitats bordering pine-oak and evergreen forests, and forest gaps inside pinyon-juniper, oak woods, and evergreen forests.
Hummingbirds take nectar from flowers, particularly larkspur, red columbine, Indian paintbrush, sage, scarlet gilia, and sugar water from feeders.
2. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Hummingbirds with ruby-throated throats are just approximately 3.5 inches long. Their tail is forked, and their feathers are vividly colored. This species of bird has a predominantly green body with a red neck. The gorget of a female is white or grey.
Some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds spend the entire year in South Florida. Most, though, spend the winter in Mexico or South America before returning to their origin in March. Every year, they travel roughly 600 kilometers. Hummingbird nests are typically found in woods near water bodies or grasslands.
The mother Hummingbird utilizes spider webs to keep their chicks safe from deadly parasites. They’re also common in backyards, where people put blossoms for them to eat.
This species of Hummingbird is one of North America’s tiniest birds, yet it packs a punch. This species of birds intake meals in large amounts. The majority component of their diet is based on nectar.
Habitat & Food
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are found in wooded places and gardens with many flowering plants. Flower, nectar, and sap are what they feed on while they hover. The birds pollinate several plants throughout this floral feeding activity.
3. Rufous Hummingbird
The hue on its backsides that varies between chestnuts to burn orange gives Rufous Hummingbirds their name. The throats of female Rufous Hummingbirds are lighter and might be white or grey.
Range & Habitat
Rufous Hummingbirds may be found throughout North America, from Alaska to Mexico. Thanks to their adaptability, they can exist in various environments, including deserts, woods, forests, alpine meadows, and coastal places.
They used to solely dwell in the southwest and west of the United States. However, due to the abrupt shift in climate, many Rufous Hummingbirds tend to migrate in the direction of the eastern seaboard, which significantly expands their range.
4. Allen’s Hummingbird
These birds are adapted effectively to urban and suburban areas. They get their nectar from native plants in their natural habitat, including jasmine, shrub, and fuchsia-flowered gooseberry.
Allen’s Hummingbird inherits an emerald greenback as well as a rump. It frequently hovers and extends its beak deep into the blossom when feeding at flowers. At feeders, they may perch or hover. To collect small insects, they may fly out and catch them in mid-air or hover to pluck them off the foliage.
Food
Nectar and insects are their main source of food. This bird takes nectar from flowers and will also eat small insects. Favors red tubular flowers, including penstemon, red monkeyflower, red columbine, paintbrush, scarlet sage, and flowers of different hues like tree-yellow tobacco blossoms. Sugar-water combinations in hummingbird feeders are also a good source of nutrition.
Allen’s Hummingbird has one of the narrowest and most restricted ranges of any North American Hummingbird. They’re a year-round dweller of southern California and a summertime inhabitant in northern California and southern Oregon. While in the migratory days, they can be noticed in the states of Arizona and New Mexico.
5. Buff-Bellied Hummingbird
These hummingbirds are little and have a long, brilliant red beak. They have dullish greenish feathers and a tall, bright red beak. They have a limited range and only visit Florida during the mating season.
The buff-bellied Hummingbird is a common sight in Texas and Mexico, with an estimated 100,000 in the wild in the United States. They’re usually easy to see in arid Texan woods.
It has a beige or yellowish stomach. And like to reproduce in southern Texas, the Buff-bellied hummingbird birds in the southern part of Texas may be seen throughout the state and in the Gulf of Mexico.
When the mating season ends, they travel up the gulf coast and have been seen much further afield as western Florida.
6. Black-chinned Hummingbird
Males possess darker throats containing black and glossy purple feathers, and both sexes possess light white or grey underbellies.
When feeding at flowers, it frequently hovers and extends its bill deep into the heart of the bloom. At feeders, they may perch or hover.
To collect small insects, this might come out and grab them in mid-flight or hover and pick them off foliage; it may even remove insects from spider webs. Female feeds her offspring by inserting its bill firmly in the mouths of their young ones and regurgitating small insects, maybe mixed with honey.
The young were around 20-21 days old on their maiden flight. Usually 1-2 broods every year, but up to three on rare occasions. They mostly feed on insects and nectar. The nectar is taken from the flowers and they also eat tiny insects as well. These birds will also feed on hummingbird feeders that contain sugar water mixtures.
Length & Weight
These birds are quite small, weighing between 2.3 and 4.9 grams and having an approximate wingspan of 11 cm.
7. Blue-throated Mountain Gem
The majority of Blue-throated Mountain Gems have a green color. The male’s blue throat is their most noticeable feature. Males and females both have a white streak above and below the eye and grey stomachs.
Length
They’re big for hummingbirds, measuring 4.3-5.5 inches and weighing. It generally hovers and extends its bill and long tongue deep into the blossom when feeding at flowers.
Food
At feeders, they may perch or hover. To collect small insects, this may come out and grab them in mid-flight or hover to pull them from foliage; it even removes insects off spider webs on occasion. 0.27 oz. This may give them a sense of entitlement at the feeder. They could frighten away ‘competitor’ hummingbirds. The main sources of food are nectar and insects.
Nectar is collected from flowers. Tiny insects and spiders are often their main food sources, and they may exist on them during dry times when few flowers grow. This bird feeds on sugar-water mixes in hummingbird feeders as well.
Habitat
Blue-throated Mountain Gems are found in Texas and Mexico’s coniferous woods, where they eat mostly on blossoms that grow abundantly along streams. They will occasionally travel to Florida, especially during the winter.
8. Mexican Violetear
The Mexican Violetear is found in Mexico’s alps, although it may also be seen in Florida on rare occasions during the year. This is a somewhat big, brilliant green hummingbird. It prefers pine-oak woodland and edges, particularly overgrown clearings and wayside flower banks. It’s rather frequent, and it’s especially noticeable when singing.
The song is a jerky, metallic, chipping song that may be heard from the middle to higher levels of trees, coming from an exposed twig. When eating, it’s common for it to hide among the blooms. The plumage is a deep green with violet face and chest patches and a thick black tail band.
These medium-sized hummingbirds have an emerald-green coloration with a violet patch on their ear. Both males and females have this distinctive pattern. However, the females’ ear patches are smaller. These birds consume a combination of bugs and nectar in the wild.
They are also attracted by honeysuckle, red salvia, cardinal flowers, and other bright red flowers. Apart from them, they also love a nectar-filled hummingbird feeder.
Length & Weight
They have a wingspan of about 6 to 7 inches, a length of about 3 to 4 inches, and a weight of about 5.95 grams.
9. Bahama Woodstar
The Bahama Woodstar is a hummingbird of intermediate size and these birds are found all across the Bahamas, as its name suggests Although this bird does not migrate it is seen in Southeast Florida. The Bahama Woodstar reaches a length of 3 to 5 inches. It has a gently curved bill. Above, the plumage is green, with olive-buff underpants.
The male possesses a throat in red coloration with a white-collar during the mating season The male loses his colorful neck when breeding season is done, and it turns a pale grey tint. These hummingbirds are tiny and light compared to others.
They have green and yellow feathers on their backs and are rarely shown in the United States. Their mating season begins in April. These birds are extremely rare, and seeing one in Florida is rare. However, these will probably be there in the state from midsummer to early fall.
10. Anna’s Hummingbird
These birds are modest in size, weighing about 3.4 to 3.6g. The males of this hummingbird species have brilliant, dark pink feathers on their throats, while their feathers are predominantly green and grey.
They have a large tail and a straight, shortish beak. When these birds perch their tails extend beyond the wingtips. The bodies of Anna’s Hummingbirds are primarily green and grey, with no rufous or orange markings. Without direct sunshine, the male’s head and throat are coated in iridescent reddish-pink feathers that might appear dull brown or grey.
Habitat
Anna’s Hummingbirds are plentiful in gardens, parks, suburban streets, eucalyptus trees, riverfront forests, savannahs, and coastal scrub. Hummingbird feeders and blooming plants, specially cultivated in gardens, attract them effortlessly.
Food
When these birds are feeding at the flowers they generally hover above them and extend their beak and lengthy tongue deep into the center of the flower. At feeders, they may perch or hover. You may either fly out and catch little insects in mid-air or hover and pick them up from the plant to collect them.
Their major component of food is insects and nectar. These birds take nectar from the flowers and eat insects as well. Sugar-water combinations in hummingbird feeders are also a good source of nutrition.
11. Costa’s Hummingbird
Costa’s Hummingbirds are distinguished by their iridescent purple crest and gorget. It features a green chest and a greenback as well. Females do not possess the crest and gorget, and their coloring is more subdued, as is characteristic of female birds. Eyebrows of white striation and white bellies are a common feature of both males and females.
Female Costa’s Hummingbirds build their nests 3–7 feet above the ground, and it takes her 4–5 days to finish one.
They consume nectar from a variety of desert plants, including chuparosa and ocotillo, and catch tiny flying insects in mid-flight. Male birds dive in a sweeping U-shaped pattern, whistling high-pitched as they accelerate and decelerate.
Habitat
Costa’s Hummingbirds may be found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts and coastal California’s chaparral and sage scrub. They use comparable arid environments and gardens, parks, and higher elevation mountains during the non-breeding season.
The nest is roughly 1.25 inches wide and 1 inch deep on the exterior. Females will sometimes construct a new nest over an older one. Costa’s Hummingbirds eat nectar and tiny insects in the air. These birds have a wingspan of about 10.9cm, a length of 8.89cm, and a weight of about 3.11 grams.
12. Calliope Hummingbird
The Calliope Hummingbird is a tiny bird with a slender black beak and a short tail. The man wears a crimson or violet hooded cloak with a white backdrop. Starting in northern California, the Calliope Hummingbird mates in the northwestern states.
During the winter, it may be found inside the Gulf coast states. They can be spotted crossing the Rocky Mountain and Pacific ranges throughout the migratory season.
These birds feed mostly on nectar, which they obtain from cupped flowers. Calliope Hummingbirds are petite, measuring about 2.4-3.3 grams. In the United States, this Hummingbird is the tiniest bird.
Despite their small stature, these territorial birds can chase larger birds. These male individuals of the breed have dispersed violet feathers on their feathers and bright white bellies.
13. White-eared Hummingbird
Both males and females of the White-eared Hummingbird have greenbacks and breasts, a blackhead, and a white eye stripe.
They have crimson beaks with just a black tip. Males have a shiny turquoise green throat and face with violet spots.3.5–4 in length, 0.1 to 0.14 oz.
White-eared Hummingbirds can be found in the United States from Nicaragua to the highlands of southern parts of Arizona, southwest of New Mexico, and western Texas, although they are uncommon.
They normally lay their eggs in northern and central Mexico between March and August or later in July in Arizona, and they can produce up to three broods per year. They may, however, come to Arizona in March and depart in early September.
These birds aren’t permanent inhabitants of Florida, and they only visit during non-breeding seasons. They’ve only been spotted in the state’s northwestern regions and mostly during the winter. White-eared Hummingbirds live in scrubby vegetation, woodlands, or backyards, nesting in bushes or low trees.
14. Broad-billed Hummingbird
They most likely prefer feeding on nectar, but there is no compulsion. They can also eat worms and insects as. These birds have vivid red beaks and brilliant blue and green feathers. The majority of their time is spent in meadows and pastures while feeding.
These birds are not permanent inhabitants of Florida and are far less common than other hummingbird species. They only come to the state in the wintertime if they need to move to avoid the cold, and they are normally only spotted in the state’s western regions.
They are not regular garden visitors due to their wide range. They are, however, drawn to a water and sugar feeder that does not include any food coloring, and they also like to inspect brilliantly colored flowers.
Check out this article on Types of Parrots in Florida.
Conclusion
In this write-up, we have talked about hummingbirds that can be witnessed in Florida. In our segment, we have seen a variety of hummingbirds. These birds are a spectacular view and very beautiful to observe.
Their colorful and vibrant plumage is so amazing that every person will never cease a chance to witness it. Besides that, we have talked about their feeding preferences and their abodes.
Their mating pattern is a distinguishing feature that helps identify these beautiful birds.
FAQ
Which thing attracts the hummingbirds most?
These birds get attracted by nectar.
How much does Buff-bellied Hummingbird weigh?
Buff-bellied hummingbirds weigh up to 2 to 4 grams.
Which Hummingbird is rare to notice in Florida?
Bahama Woodstar is extremely rare.
Which are the most common Hummingbird in Florida?
Ruby-throated is present in all weathers in Florida.
Last Updated on March 22, 2023 by Lily Aldrin
