15 Types of Hummingbirds in the United States! (2023)

What types of hummingbirds can you find in the United States?

Hummingbirds are one of the most popular birds in the United States and have captivated people’s interest and attention for a long time. But because hummingbirds are incredibly fast and small, these birds can be hard to distinguish from each other. Most of the time, they just look like little green, iridescent blurs streaking by your face!

Today, you will learn about the 15 types of hummingbirds found in the United States.

Each description includes identification tips, pictures, *range maps, fun facts, AND how to attract these beautiful birds to your yard!

#1: Ruby-throated Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: Medium-sized hummingbird with a bright red throat and a black chin and mask that extends behind the eyes. The top of their head and back are iridescent green. Underparts are pale grey with a green wash on the sides of their belly.

• Females: Duller than males. The chin and throat are white with pale green streaks. Their face lacks the black chin and red throat of the male. Their belly is mostly white with buffy flanks, and the back is green.

• *Similar Species: Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, which have a duller red throat and lack a black chin. These two species have ranges that do not overlap.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are common in the United States during summer.

Once cooler temperatures start to arrive, these birds migrate to Mexico. Amazingly, most individuals travel ACROSS the Gulf of Mexico to reach their wintering grounds.  Remember, they must make this incredibly long journey in a single flight, as there is nowhere to stop and rest. 🙂

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Range Map

How do you attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in the United States?

There are many ways to draw these winged beauties to your yard. But the two BEST strategies are to hang a nectar feeder full of fresh sugar water and then to make sure you plant as many long, tubular flowers as possible.

Look for RED flowers, because hummingbirds are naturally attracted to this color. Also, long, tubular flowers are great for hummingbirds because they can access the nectar with their long beaks and tongues, but bees and other insects can’t!

What sounds do Ruby-throated Hummingbirds make?

Press PLAY above to hear the sound these birds make!

Believe it or not, these hummingbirds do make distinctive noises. The sounds that I most often hear are a series of calls seem to be given as individuals are chasing each other around. It resembles a chattering “chee-dit.”

Fun Facts:

• Their legs are so short they are unable to walk or hop! If needed, they can sort of shuffle and scoot down a branch.

• These hummingbirds can beat their wings up to 53 times per SECOND!

#2: Rufous Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: Bright copper-orange on their back (although some males have a green back) and sides of their belly. Beautiful reddish-orange iridescent throat. White breast and ear patch behind eye. Compared to other hummingbird species, they are small.

• Females: They have a green crown, neck, and back. Rufous (copper) colored sides with a white breast and belly. Some females have a spot of red or orange on their throat.

• *Similar Species: Allen’s Hummingbird, which has slightly more green on their crown and back. Allen’s also has narrower outer tail feathers and a slightly downward-curved bill. Females of these two species are incredibly hard to tell apart.

Rufous Hummingbirds have an interesting migration pattern. In the spring, they fly north up the Pacific Coast to their summer breeding grounds. They return to their winter homes in Mexico and parts of the southern United States by flying a completely different route along the Rocky Mountains!

Rufous Hummingbird Range Map

Rufous Hummingbirds are the most aggressive hummingbird in the USA!

Be careful if one finds your hummingbird feeders or garden, as they will relentlessly attack and drive away other hummingbirds (including much larger species) away. They have even been seen chasing chipmunks!

If an aggressive Rufous Hummingbird has taken over your hummingbird feeder, you have a few options to help alleviate the pressure. My favorite strategy is setting up multiple feeders around your entire yard. The farther you can place them apart, the better! There is no way your problem bird can defend all the feeding stations at once, ensuring that other individuals get a chance to eat. 🙂

What sounds do Rufous Hummingbirds make?

The most common sound you will hear these birds make is a series of chipping notes, which are given as a warning to intruding birds. Males also make a “chu-chu-chu” call at the bottom of a dive while trying to impress females.

Fun Facts:

• They have one of the longest migrations of any bird in the world, which is incredible given their small size (roughly 3 inches)! A one-way journey from Mexico to Alaska is about 3,900 miles (6,275 km), and remember they make this trip twice a year.

• They build their nests with soft plant down held together with spider webs. Like other hummingbird species, females prefer lichen, bark, and moss as camouflage.

• In addition to drinking nectar from plants, these birds enjoy hunting gnats, midges, and flies in the air, while plucking aphids from leaves.

#3: Black-chinned Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: A medium-sized hummingbird with a metallic green body with a white breast and greenish flanks. Their head appears black overall, but their crown is actually very dark green, and their lower throat is iridescent violet. You typically can’t see the strip of purple unless the light hits it just right. Look for a white spot behind their eyes.

• Females: Have a greenish-grey cap on their heads and a green back. There is a white spot behind their eyes, similar to the males. Females have a dark-spotted grey throat and a white breast.

• *Similar Species: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which has a greener crown, shorter bill, and red throat. But these two hummingbirds have ranges that are incredibly different, so you shouldn’t mix them up.

I will never forget the first time I saw this hummingbird species. While on a camping trip in Zion National Park, I took an early morning walk when a male Black-chinned Hummingbird started feeding on the wildflowers in front of me! I still remember the purple, vibrant throat shining in the early morning sun. 🙂

Black-chinned Hummingbird Range Map

Black-chinned Hummingbirds breed in the United States during the summer months. In winter, they migrate to the west coasts of Mexico. This species is one of the most adaptable of all hummingbird species and is found in various habitats. Look for them in places such as mountain and alpine meadows, canyons with thickets, orchards, urban areas, and recently disturbed areas.

You will probably hear a Black-chinned Hummingbird flying if they are around. This is because their wings make a distinctive hum, which sounds similar to a bee. These birds also commonly make different high-pitched ticks and chips.

Fun Facts:

• Their eggs are about the size of a coffee bean!

• When the weather is cold, and lots of energy is needed to stay warm, these birds can drink up to THREE times their body weight in nectar. On the flip side, when insects are plentiful, they can survive without any nectar for stretches of time.

#4: Calliope Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: These small birds are easy to identify because of their long, magenta throat feathers that appear as streaks going down their neck. Their head, upperparts, and flanks are metallic green. The breast is white. Males can be observed performing a unique U-shaped dive that is used to impress females.

• Females: They have small dark spots on their white throat instead of the vibrant magenta throat feathers like the male. Their head and back are covered in a metallic green with a white, buffy breast.

• *Similar Species: It’s hard to distinguish between female Calliope and female Rufous Hummingbirds. The biggest difference is that Rufous Hummingbirds are larger with a longer bill and have more copper coloring at the base of the tail.

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the United States! It’s under four inches in length and weighs between 2 – 3 grams (0.071 to 0.106 oz), which is about the same weight as a ping-pong ball!

Calliope Hummingbird Range Map

This hummingbird species has an incredibly long migration route, especially when you consider their tiny size. The Calliope spends its winters in Mexico. But each spring, they make the long migration up the Pacific coast to their summer breeding grounds.  During fall migration, they return to Mexico by following the Rocky Mountains instead of heading back down the coast.

Male Calliope Hummingbirds are known for their impressive U-shaped dives, which are used to attract females. During the display, they will fly as high as 100 feet in the air and then dive until they almost hit the ground, and then rise back up to repeat the process.

While they are plummeting towards the Earth, you should be able to hear buzzing, which is emitted from their tail feathers, along with a high-pitched “zing” call that the bird makes.

Fun Facts:

• Even though they are tiny, Calliope Hummingbirds are known to be feisty during the breeding season. They have been observed chasing away birds as large as Red-tailed Hawks!

• These small hummers are known to hunt small insects by “hawking.” This means they sit on a perch waiting for their victim to pass by, and then fly out to catch it in mid-air.

• Calliopes like using conifer trees for nest construction. They try to choose a limb with a substantial sheltering branch overhead, which protects them from precipitation and makes the nest more difficult to spot from above. Organic materials such as lichen, bark, and moss comprise the camouflage.

#5: Broad-tailed Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: Adults have a white breast, buffy flanks, and green covering their head, back, and tail. Look for their iridescent red throat.

• Females: Similar to other types of hummingbirds, females are larger than males. They have a lightly speckled throat, white upper breast, and a brownish belly. Head and back are green.

• *Similar Species: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but their ranges do not overlap. These two species should be easy to tell apart depending on your location since Ruby-throats only live in eastern the United States.

These hummingbirds are a bird of mountain meadows and open woodlands. They typically breed at elevations between 5,000 and 10,500 feet.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird Range Map

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds only stay in the United States for a few months, from late May to early August.

Males put on impressive aerial displays to attract females. The show begins with the male climbing high into the sky and then diving towards the ground, pulling up right in front of the bird he is trying to attract. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are promiscuous, and they may mate with many individuals during a breeding season.

There are two sounds you may hear these hummingbirds make!

#1. Both males and females make chittering and chattering noises. These sounds are most often heard while they are feeding and foraging. (Listen below!)

#2. Their wings sound like crickets! While they fly, you can distinctly hear a trill that is both insect-like and metallic. (Listen below!)

Fun Facts:

• These birds live up to 10,500 feet high in the mountains, where temperatures regularly drop below freezing, even in summer. To survive these cold nights, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds enter what is called a state of torpor, where they slow their heart rate down and drop their body temperature until the sun comes up!

• To obtain protein, Broad-tailed’s will eat insects wherever they can find them! That could be catching bugs in mid-air, gleaning off leaves, or even stealing them off a spider web!

• When available, they will sometimes drink sap that is leaking from trees that have been drilled by Red-naped Sapsuckers.

#6: Anna’s Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: They are best known for their beautiful iridescent pinkish-red heads. Underparts are a mix between gray and green. Tail and back are dark green. Most of the time, a broken white eye-ring is visible.

• Females: Duller than the males, with a green cap and body. Their tail has a white tip. Many birds have a patch of metallic purple or red on their throat.

• *Similar Species: Costa’s Hummingbird, which is smaller with a purple throat and slightly down-curved bill.

These jeweled beauties are tiny birds that are no larger than a ping pong ball and weigh about the same as a nickel.

Anna’s Hummingbird Range Map

Anna’s are different from most hummers since they don’t migrate much, if at all. These hummingbirds are year-round residents from southern British Columbia to northern Mexico. They have varied habitats, including deserts, mountains, woodlands, gardens, and chaparral.

Anna’s Hummingbirds have a distinctive song! (Press play below)

To help locate these hummingbirds, listen for a long song that often lasts ten seconds or more. The song starts with a series of buzzes, which is then followed by a pleasant-sounding whistle. The entire sequence can last more than ten seconds and typically finishes with some chip notes.

Personally, it’s hard to believe these noises are coming from a pretty little hummingbird!

Fun Facts:

• Anna’s Hummingbirds are known for their thrilling mating displays. The male starts by hovering in front of his chosen female for a few seconds. Then he flies straight up to heights of 130 feet (40m), concluding with him diving straight down and giving a loud squeak within a few feet of his target.

• In addition to nectar, these hummingbirds consume a wide variety of insects. Their favorites are smaller bugs, such as whiteflies, midges, and leafhoppers. They will even pluck insects off that are caught in spider webs!

• Anna’s Hummingbirds enjoy supplementing their diet with tree sap. When available, they will eat sugary sap that is leaking out of holes made by sapsuckers.

#7: Costa’s Hummingbird

I “mustache” you a question?

Have you ever seen a hummingbird quite like this one?

How To Identify:

• Males: Their large, iridescent purple gorget makes them easy to identify, as it covers their head, along with flaring out along the sides of their neck like an overgrown mustache.

• Females: Females have a white throat and underparts, along with a green back and head. Look for white-tips on the green tail feathers. Both sexes appear compact with a short tail.

Costa’s Hummingbirds have a limited range in the United States. They are found in various habitats, including desert scrub, chaparral, sage scrub, and even in deciduous forests in their Mexico wintering grounds.

Costa’s Hummingbird Range Map

Males have a spirited mating display used to attract females. They typically perform a series of dives and loops in front of the female in hopes of impressing her, and they even position themselves at the correct angle to the sun to show their violet plumage!

Fun Facts:

• Researchers have found that Costa’s Hummingbirds need to visit up to 1,800 flowers per day to obtain enough energy to sustain themselves.

• Costa’s Hummingbirds are shyer than other larger species. In hopes of attracting them to your yard, try offering multiple feeders to give them a place to feed away from these more aggressive hummingbirds.

#8: Allen’s Hummingbird

How To Identify:

• Males: Small, compact, and stocky hummingbirds with copper-colored sides, belly, rump, and tail. Both sexes have a straight, black bill, white breast, and a green crown and back that glitters in the sun. Males have a deep reddish-orange throat.

• Females: Look similar to males, except they are a bit duller in color and lack the bright copper-red gorget. Instead, they have a small patch of coloring on their throat.

• *Similar Species: Rufous Hummingbird, which has slightly less green on their crown and back. Allen’s also has narrower outer tail feathers and a slightly decurved bill.

Allen’s Hummingbirds have a very limited breeding range in the United States due to their habitat preferences. These birds only use a narrow strip of coastal shrub and chaparral habitat located along the Pacific Coast for mating and raising young.

Allen’s Hummingbird Range Map

The breeding range extends from the coasts of southern Oregon through California. Some of these hummingbirds can be found year-round in southern California, and their preferred habitats include coastal chaparral, brushlands, and the edges of redwood forests. These birds are also seen during migration in parts of Arizona and New Mexico.

What sounds do Allen’s Hummingbirds make?

These birds produce a few different noises. The most common sound you will hear is typically given while feeding and is described as a sharp tick.

Fun Facts:

• Male and female Allen’s Hummingbirds use different types of habitat during the breeding season. The male sets up his territory in open areas of chaparral or coastal scrub. The female visits these areas, but after mating, she heads into the forest or thickets to raise her young.

• Males give elaborate breeding displays in the hopes of attracting a female. Their most impressive show involves first flying back and forth in wide arcs, which resembles a pendulum. Then the eager hummingbird will fly up to 100 feet in the air, only to drive back down right in front of the female. Males typically repeat this display over and over and for many females. During this dive, a buzzing sound is emitted from the wings of their feathers, which is incredibly distinctive. (Listen to this noise below!)

Other Types of Hummingbirds That May Visit the United States (RARE)

#9. Broad-billed Hummingbird

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults range from 3.1 to 3.9 inches long and have a wingspan of about 5.1 inches.

• Males are a rich green with a shimmering blue throat and a red bill tipped in black.
• Females are golden-green above and gray below, with a white line behind the eye.
• They have a long straight bill and tail.

An incredibly colorful hummingbird that is sometimes seen in southern Arizona and New Mexico.

Broad-billed Hummingbirds feed on nectar from flowers that bloom en masse after monsoon rains. They’re most active in the morning and late afternoon when flowers produce the most nectar. Consequently, this is the best time to catch a glimpse of these beautiful birds!

This species uses a fascinating foraging technique called “traplining.” To complete a feeding, the hummingbird takes the same route from flower to flower, eating a small amount from each one, then returning up the line. Their route forms a “trapline” similar to a long-line fishing boat.

In addition to wildflowers, they are also readily attracted to nectar feeders. So, if you have trouble finding Broad-billed Hummingbirds in their natural habitat, you can try bringing them to you!

#10. Violet-crowned Hummingbird

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults measure about 4.3 inches in length and have a wingspan of about 5.9 inches.

• Their coloration is bronzy green above and white below, with an iridescent purple-blue crown and white spots behind the eyes.

• The bill is bright reddish orange with a black tip.

Violet-crowned Hummingbirds nest and breed along canyons and streams.

In the winter, look for them in orchards, wooded parks, and cities.

Interestingly, their feeding behavior often depends on the other species in the area. For example, when Violet-crowned Hummingbirds are the largest species in an area, they defend patches of flowers aggressively. However, if there are larger species in the area, they resort to traplining, where they quickly move from flower to flower, feeding briefly on each one.

In their winter range, they sometimes form large feeding groups that may number into the hundreds at flowering trees.

#11. Blue-throated Mountain-gem

A very vocal hummingbird that is sometimes seen in southeastern Arizona.

#12. Lucifer Hummingbird 

Males have a vivid purple throat and typically breed in northern Mexico, but some birds make it as far north as Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas.

#13. Buff-bellied Hummingbird

They breed along the Gulf Coast and can be observed in Texas and Louisana.

#14. White-eared Hummingbird

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults range from 3.5 to 3.9 inches long.

• They are iridescent green on their upper parts and breast, with a black mask, bold and thick white ear stripes, and a red base to their bill.

• Males have a head and throat that often appear black but flash violet and green in the right light.

• Females have a pale throat and breast with green spots.

The White-eared Hummingbird is sometimes seen in the southwest USA.

It’s mostly spotted at forest edges and clearings of coniferous forests in the mountains. It’s also seen in pine-oak forests at middle elevations.

Where this species is common, males gather in loose groups of hundreds of birds! They perch in trees and sing short songs to attract females. When a female visits, a male will follow her to her nesting territory and perform display flights.

This sneaky hummingbird uses its small size to its advantage in feeding. Usually, the White-eared Hummingbird will fight other species close to its size for feeding areas. However, if a much larger species is in a prime spot, it performs a low-flying, secretive approach to get past them and access their flowers!

#15. Berylline Hummingbird

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults range from 3.1 to 3.9 inches long.

• Their coloring is primarily metallic green with a rusty lower belly, wing patch, and tail which often has purple and bronze highlights.

A common bird in Mexico, it can sometimes be seen in the desert southwest.

Berylline Hummingbirds occupy mountain forests and canyons.

You’ll most likely see them at elevations between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. In their winter range, they usually inhabit foothills and lower mountain slopes.

Although this hummingbird is easy to spot, it’s rare to see more than one at a time. Individuals are solitary and tend to be aggressive towards other hummingbirds, even those of their own species. It’s common for Berylline Hummingbirds to defend patches of flowers or their favorite perching spots.

These small but powerful hummingbirds feed on nectar, spiders, and insects. They often hover while eating from flowers, grab insects from mid-air, or pluck them from spider webs. They’re quite athletic when it comes to dinnertime!

Do you want to learn more about hummingbirds in the United States?

If so, here are a few books you should consider purchasing. 🙂

Which of these types of hummingbirds have you seen in the United States?

Leave a comment below!