Dastardly Duos 27--Tucson Audubon Society

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Tucson Audubon Society
Dastardly Duos

Female Hummingbirds (Broad-tailed, Broad-billed, Lucifer, White-eared)
by Larry Liese
Illustrations by George C. West
Broad-billed & White-eared Hummingbird females (Article first appeared in the July-August 2003 Vermilion Flycatcher newsletter. To receive the newsletter in the mail, join the Friends of Tucson Audubon.)

Ready for hummingbird season? Recent years have been good to southeast Arizona, with many of the rarer species being seen, and some even breeding. Last year saw one-site results of 13 hummingbird species, a new ABA record, and a lucky group or two tallied 14 in one day. Whew!

This month we’ll look at two pairs of similar looking female hummers to help you avoid a misidentification in a sudden attack of ‘Rare-bird-itis.’ Our first pair is one of my favorites, female White-eared Hummingbird (Hylocharis leucotis) and female Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris). I’ve seen more than one eager visiting (and sometimes local!) birder exclaim "There’s the White-eared," when the bird in view is just a regular ol’ Broad-billed female. Called the ‘Poor man’s White-eared’ by Tom Beatty, who with his family operates a B&B in Miller Canyon that’s famous for its hummingbirds, it sports a faintish white stripe behind the eye, absent on the male, and bears some similarity for the unacquainted. Broad-tailed Hummingbird female

The real McCoy is quite different, with the brilliant white post-ocular stripe that gives it its name. It has rows of green dots on the breast, particularly on the throat center. It has a short bill, blackish above and red below with black tip, a dark square tail, a round head and a black ear patch. The female Broad-billed’s corresponding features show a dingy gray breast, a long slightly curved bill that is blackish above and red below (again with black tip), a dark notched tail, flat crown, and grayish ear patch.

Our second pair shows the problem of concentrating on a single field mark. While a female Lucifer Hummingbird (Calothorax lucifer) has buffy flanks, so does the much more common female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycerus). While the Broad-tailed is sometimes thought of as a higher altitude bird, they are often the dominant species in lower Miller Canyon. Lucifer Lucifer Hummingbird female Hummingbirds have a strongly decurved bill, which will be obvious with a good view. Females have a buffy supercilium and look much cleaner in the throat area. Broad-tailed females have spotted cheeks, with a shortish straight bill. At Ballator’s B&B in Ash Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, Lucifer Hummingbirds have been regular in summer months. Many were also treated to views of Plain-capped Starthroat there last summer. Many thanks to the Beattys and Ballators for their generosity in sharing their businesses with the birding public. Muchas gracias!

So, head to one of these hotspots in the Huachuca Mountains, pull up a seat with a good view of the feeders, and get ready for a possible rare hummingbird. But you better be quick and be ready to ID them fast. Sometimes they don’t stick around long. Good luck!

Broad-billed female tail Broad-tailed female tail Lucifer Hummingbird female tail White-eared Hummingbird female tail

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This page was updated on 01/08/09