Residents in Louisiana have the pleasure of enjoying hummingbirds year round. Between hummingbird feeders, hummingbird gardens and of course, the naturally growing plants found in Louisiana, there is always nourishment for these tiny creatures of flight. This abundance of resources for nourishment, along with winter temperatures that are not real extreme explains the plentiful population of hummingbirds that visit Louisiana.
Twelve species visit this bayou state. These twelve species are the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the Rufous Hummingbird, the Black-chinned Hummingbird, the Buff-bellied Hummingbird, the Allen’s Hummingbird, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird, the Anna’s Hummingbird, the Calliope Hummingbird, the Blue-throated Hummingbird, the Broad-billed Hummingbird, the Green-eared Hummingbird and the Magnificent Hummingbird. Even though there are so many species that have been documented in the state of Louisiana, some of these species are more common visitors than others and only the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is seen during the spring migration.
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the most commonly sighted hummingbird species in Louisiana. This species of hummingbirds is usually a temporary resident from early March, when they arrive to breed, nest and raise their young or to spend the summer before migrating on beginning in August. The last Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are generally seen in October. Even though most Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate each year, a few of these birds will become permanent residents and reside in Louisiana year round. Identifying this commonly seen hummingbird is not very difficult, especially if the bird is a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The main characteristics of the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird are a ruby red throat and a forked tail. The female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has a white breast and throat and a rounded tail with white tipped tail feathers. Both the male and female have emerald green backs.
The Rufous Hummingbird is another commonly seen hummingbird in Louisiana, usually during the winter migration. Identifying the Rufous Hummingbird begins with the male, which gives the species its name due to the rufous colored feathers that cover its crown and sides. This birds tail feathers are also rufous colored and its back is rufous, green or a combination of the two colors while its throat is bright orange-red and its breast is white. The female Rufous Hummingbird also has a white breast, but has a streaked throat and its crown and back are green. The female also has rufous colored feathers that are tipped in white.
The Black-chinned Hummingbird visit Louisiana during the winter migration, usually arriving in November and stay until early spring. Even though these birds are winter visitors, that is not enough information to positively identify these little birds, actually identifying the physical characteristics of the Black-chinned Hummingbird will have to be done. The male Black-chinned Hummingbird stands out from other hummingbirds because of its purple throat band with a white collar located on a black throat. It also has a green colored back, crown and breast. The female of this species has buff tail feathers that are white tipped along with a white breast, black and white spotted throat and green back and crown.
The Buff-bellied Hummingbird is one of the few species of hummingbirds where both sexes are colored alike. Both sexes have white-eye rings and metallic green feathers covering their throat, crown and back along with buff colored feathers covering their sides, bellies and tail feathers.
The Allen’s Hummingbird is like most other hummingbird species, the male is easier to identify than the female. The male Allen’s Hummingbird is easiest identified by its metallic bronze-green colored back and head, its iridescent copper-red colored throat and its rusty colored flanks. The female is less colorful than its male counterpart with its white colored breast, its throat that is white with red spots, a rounded white tipped tail and rust colored back and sides.
The Broad-tailed Hummingbird is another species of hummingbirds where the male is easier to identify than the female because the male is more colorful. The male has a metallic green colored crown and back, a white colored breast, a rose-colored throat and a round tail. The female of this species has a less colorful green crown and back, a throat that is white with black spots, rufous colored feathers down the sides and tail feathers that are green, rust, black with white tips.
The Anna’s Hummingbird is one of the largest species of hummingbirds in Louisiana. The male of this species will weigh about 4.3g and has a metallic colored back, a dark rose-red colored throat and crown and a breast that is gray in color. The female of this species is identified by a breast that is gray, a back that is green, a throat that is white with red spots and tail feathers that are white tipped.
The Calliope Hummingbird can also be identified by its size as it is the smallest hummingbird in Louisiana with the male weighing in at about 2.5g. The identifying physical characteristics of the male are the metallic green colored back and crown and the white throat that has purple rays creating a “whiskered” look. The female of this species has a less brilliant green back and crown than the male and a white throat with dark streaks, not purple whiskers. The female’s sides are also covered in buff colored feathers and the corners of the tail feathers are tipped in white.
The Blue-throated Hummingbird can also be identified by its size. In fact, this hummingbird species is the easiest to identify by its size, as it is the largest hummingbird species in Louisiana with males weighing about 8.4g and females weighing about 6.8g. But if size alone is not enough to identify this bird, its physical characteristics should help. The both males and females have dark gray feathers covering their breast, bright blue feathers covering their throat and dark blue tail feathers with white tips. They also have green feathers covering their crown and back and they have a thin stripe above and below their eyes.
The Broad-billed Hummingbird is one more species that is best identified by the physical characteristics of the male. These physical characteristics include a dark green colored back, crown and breast, a metallic blue colored throat and a bill that is bright orange-red with a black tip. The female, on the other hand, is less colorful than the male with a gray colored throat, a green colored back and crown and white tipped tail feathers, but it does have the same colorful bill as the male.
The Green-violet Eared Hummingbird is another of the larger species of hummingbirds in Louisiana weighing between 5 and 6 grams. Other than the size of this species, there are other identifiable characteristics. The male has a metallic pale and green throat and breast, a violet color patch that creates a triangle under the eye and extending to the neck. It also has a black band located toward the end of the tail, yellow/green tipped tail feathers and a black bill and feet. The female Green-violet Eared Hummingbird is marked very similar to the male, with the exception being the metallic green is only located on her throat and her breast is duller and has a little bronzing.
The Magnificent Hummingbird is the one more hummingbird in Louisiana that can be identified by its size and colorful markings. The Magnificent Hummingbird is the second largest hummingbird found in Louisiana with males weighing 7.7g and females weighing 6.4g. The markings of the male includes dark green colored feathers that cover the back, purple feathers that cover the crown and forehead, metallic feathers covering its throat and black feathers that covers its breast. The female is not nearly as colorful as the male in that it has olive green colored feathers that cover its back and crown, gray colored feathers that cover its breast and throat and has tail feathers that are pearl gray tipped.
Attracting these many species of hummingbirds to a garden in Louisiana is as easy as knowing what plants to include when planning and planting a hummingbird garden. This list is long because of the climate in Louisiana and includes these plants:
Bottlebush Butterfly bush Butterfly weed
Cannas Cape fuchsia Cape honeysuckle
Cardinal climber Cardinal flower Chaste tree
Cleveland sage Columbine Comfrey
Coral bells Coral honeysuckle Cross vine
Cypress vine Daylily Double Bubblemint
Egyptian star Firebush Firecracker plant
Fireweed Flowering maple Four o’clock
Foxglove Fuchsia Gay feather
Giant hummingbird mint Gladiolus Glossy abelia
Honeysuckle Horsemint Hosta
Impatiens Indian paintbrush Ipomopsis
Iris Jewelweed Karachi
Lantana Liatris Lilac
Lily of the Nile Mexican Cigar Mexican giant hyssop
Mexican sage Mexican sunflower Milkweed, butterfly
Milkweed, Mexican Nasturtiums Obedient plant
Pagoda plant Penta Peruvian lily
Phlox Pineapple sage Plaintain lily
Red hot poker Red mint Red morning glory
Red sage Red star hibiscus Red yucca
Rhododendron Rose of Sharon Salvia
Scarlet runner bean Scarlet sage Shrimp plant
Skyrocket Snapdragon Snapdragon vine
Soapwort Sword lily Texas betony
Texas sage Tree tobacco Tritoma
Trumpet vine Turk’s cap Yellow bells
Zinnia
