The Mountain Hummingbird

Listen and look for broad-taileds in their high-elevation homes.

Hummingbirds aren’t usually known for the noises they make— unless it’s the sound of one zooming past you—but broad-tailed hummingbirds are loud visitors.

Females keep up a constant vocal twittering, and males add a loud trill from their specialized wing feathers while in flight. “Once you learn their sound, you won’t forget it!” says David Mehlman, who served as director of the Nature Conservancy’s Migratory Bird Program.

“The male broad-tailed is the most distinctive-sounding of all North American hummingbirds,” David says. If you live in the mountains of the West or visit the region in summer, you’re bound to hear these very common and abundant hummingbirds, maybe even before you see them.

Aside from the noise, it is the male’s bold throat that first catches attention, not the tail. Adult males sport a showy rose-magenta patch on the throat called a gorget. It’s a bright contrast to the tail, which is slightly wider and longer than that of most other hummingbirds found in the U.S. and Canada, extending beyond the wingtips when the bird is perched and resting. Both male and female have a green back and crown and a white chest. Females have rusty sides and white tips on the outer tail feathers.

The plentiful nectar of alpine meadow wildflowers draws crowds of broad-tailed hummingbirds to the Rockies, Sierras, Guadalupes and other ranges, spanning from Texas to Montana. Insects and tree sap round out their regular menu of high-elevation blooms.

Even in the mountain breeding grounds, broad-tailed hummers don’t form pair bonds. Females sometimes outnumber males, but with no pair bonds, males may mate with several females. Males tend to perch on high vantage points near feeders, keeping a lookout for other males, while crowds of females and, later in the season, juveniles swarm the feeders from dawn to dusk.

During migration to and from Mexico, broad-taileds turn up at lower elevations, sometimes even visiting cities. David’s home in New Mexico is about a mile above sea level, but broad-taileds visit only when passing through. “If I want to see them in summer, I have to head up to 8,000 or 9,000 feet,” he says.

Gardeners who live in the mountains or in the migration path of broad-taileds can attract these fliers with the usual suite of hummingbird flowers, such as penstemon, red hot poker, trumpet honeysuckle, salvia and bee balm, all of which add colorful flair to yards. Keep an eye—and ear—out for these hummers as they make your backyard a regular stop.