Hummingbirds are yearly visitors to the State of Arkansas. Gardeners who enjoy the visit of these small, beautiful birds often include plants in their gardens that will attract hummingbirds to their piece of Arkansas. Not everyone who enjoys hummingbirds enjoys gardening, so these people will often times put out feeders loaded with nectar or sugar water to attract the hummingbirds. Some people even do both!
After preparations have been made to attract the hummingbirds, all that is left to do is wait. The wait can take forever, or it seems like it, but sooner or later, the first little hummers will begin to arrive. What species of hummingbirds will show up? In Arkansas, nine different species have been documented including Anna’s, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Buff-bellied, Calliope, Green Violet-ear, Magnificent, Ruby-throated and Rufous.
Anna’s Hummingbird is one of the most unusual hummingbirds in the United States. This is because it has its own song. If you cannot identify it by the song, another way to identify it will be to look at the feather colors. On the male, the feathers will be gray on its breast, dark mauve on the throat and crown and metallic green on its back. The female Anna’s Hummingbird has a lighter gray breast, a duller green back, its throat has white feathers with red spots and its tail feathers have white tips.
The Black-chinned Hummingbird is another species of hummingbird that has been documented Arkansas. One unique aspect of this hummingbird species is that the female is more colorful than the male. The female has white breast feathers, white feathers with black spots covering the throat, buff feathers with white tips on its sides and green feathers on its back and crown. The male of this species is identified by the black feathers covering its throat, the purple feathers that create a throat band along with the white feathers that create a collar. The male also has green feathers on its back, crown and breast.
The Broad-tailed Hummingbird is different from other species of hummingbirds because its wings sound like a cricket when they are moving. Other than this sound made by the wings, the male can be identified by feathers covering the back and crown that are metallic green. They also have white feathers that cover its breast, rose-colored feathers that cover its throat and a tail that is round. The female has feathers that cover its back and crown that are a duller green than that of the male. The female also has white feathers that cover its throat with black spots, rust colored feathers that cover the bird’s sides. Its tail has green feathers located down the middle while its outer tail feathers have a rust base, black middle and white tips.
The Buff-bellied Hummingbird is one of the larger hummingbird species seen in Arkansas. The male of this species weighs about 4.05g and the female is a little smaller weighing about 3.67g. This species is different from most other species because both sexes look alike, with the exception of their size. These hummingbirds have metallic green feathers that cover their back and crown as well as their throat. They also have buff or rust feathers that cover their sides and tail feathers. One other distinguishable feature of this species is the white rings around the eyes.
The Calliope Hummingbird is most identifiable by the “whisker” effect caused by purple feathers that streak its white throat of the male. The male also has metallic green feathers that cover its back and crown. The female of this species is not as colorful as the male, but does have green feathers that cover its back and crown as well as white feathers with dark streaks covering its throat. This hummingbird also has buff colored feathers on its sides and has white tips on its tail feathers.
The Green-violet Eared Hummingbird is another species that has little difference between the sexes. This species can be identified by the pale, metallic feathers fringed with blue that cover the throat and breast. Also, a violet colored patch of feathers creates a triangle that extends from under the eye to the neck that lends to the name of this hummingbird. The tail of these birds also has a black band located almost on the end where there are yellow/green tips. They also have a black bill and feet. Even though the female of this species is somewhat similar to the male, there are some subtle differences such as the metallic green is only found on its throat and the continuing color throughout the body is duller than that of the male.
The Magnificent Hummingbird is another species of hummingbird that is often identified by its size. With males weighing about 7.7g and females weighing about 6.4g, this is one of the largest species of hummingbirds found in Arkansas, and in the United States. The male of this species can be identified by the colors of the feathers that cover its body as well as its size. The male has dark green feathers covering its back, purple feathers on its forehead and crown as well as gray feathers on its breast. The male also has gray feathers with light streaking covering its throat and its tail feathers are tipped with pearl gray.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is easily identified the ruby red feathers that cover the male’s throat. The tail of the male is forked and the feathers that cover its back are emerald green. The female Ruby-throated Hummingbird also has emerald green feathers covering its back, but the similarities ends there. The female has white feathers covering its breast and throat and has a rounded tail with white tips instead of a forked tail. The bill on the female is also longer than the bill on the male.
The Rufous Hummingbird can be identified by the rufous colored tail feathers and white breast. The male of this species also has rufous colored feathers on its crown and sides and its back can be green, rufous or a combination of either. One other identifying trait of the male Rufous Hummingbird the bright orange-red feathers that cover the throat. The female Rufous Hummingbird has green feathers that cover its back and crown, a throat that is streaked and it has white tips on its tail feathers.
