North Carolina has four species of hummingbirds that visit annually. These species are the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the Rufous Hummingbird, the Green Violet-ear Hummingbird and the Calliope Hummingbird. Each of these species has features that set them apart from the other hummingbird species, allowing for identification of that particular species, even though, the male hummingbird is often the most colorful and easiest to identify of the two sexes.
Identifying the Ruby-throated Hummingbird begins with identifying the male of the species as it is the most colorful and easiest to identify. The most prominent feature that the male has is its throat, which is a ruby-red color, while other features to look for include an emerald colored back and a forked tail. The female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has an emerald colored back, like its male counterpart, while other features are a white colored breast, a white colored throat, and white tipped tail feathers.
Identifying the Rufous Hummingbird is not much different from identifying the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in that the male is the easiest to identify because it is the most colorful as well. The male Rufous Hummingbird’s most prominent feature is the rufous or rust color that covers its crown, tail and sides, while other identifiable features to look for are a bright orange-red throat and a white breast. The female Rufous Hummingbird is most identifiable by its green crown, white breast and white streaked throat.
Identifying the Green-violet Eared Hummingbird is not accomplished by separating the sexes as the previous two species. There are very little differences between the sexes of this species, with the most noticeable being the amount of shiny green on their throats. The male has a larger amount of the shiny green feathers on its throat than the female and has a brighter blue throat and breast. Both sexes of the Green-violet Eared Hummingbird have a violet patch under their eyes that creates a triangle to their neck and a black band around its tail feathers.
Identifying the Calliope Hummingbird is similar to the identification of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and the Rufous Hummingbird because the male of the species is the more brilliantly marked of the two sexes. This male hummingbird has a white throat with purple streaks throughout it, giving the impression of whiskers, while other features to look for with this hummingbird in North Carolina are a metallic green back and crown. The female Calliope Hummingbird also has a green back and crown although they are not as bright as the male and it also has white throat that has dark streaks, but they do not resemble whiskers. This species of hummingbirds are the smallest to visit North Carolina, so size could be a factor in identifying them as well.
Attracting these species of hummingbirds to a location in North Carolina can be accomplished by adding a hummingbird to a landscape, by adding a hummingbird garden or even a combination of both. If a resident of North Carolina chooses to include a hummingbird feeder, a hummingbird garden, or even a combination of the two, they will surely be entertained while enjoying the outdoors, at least until the urge to move on over takes the tiny birds.
