🔍 How to Identify Your Hummingbirds: A Beginner’s Guide

To the untrained eye, they all look like “fast green blurs.” But once you know what to look for, you’ll realize your garden is hosting a diverse cast of characters.

There are over 300 species, but in the US and Canada, you will mostly see these four.

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1. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

• Range: The ONLY species that breeds in the Eastern US. If you are east of the Mississippi, this is what you have.
• ID: Emerald green back. Males have a brilliant metallic red throat (gorget). Females have a white throat.
• Personality: Feisty and territorial.

2. Anna’s Hummingbird

• Range: The West Coast (California to British Columbia).
• ID: Stocky and green. Males have a specialized iridescent pink/red head and throat (it looks like a helmet).
• Fun Fact: They don’t migrate! They stay year-round in the Pacific Northwest.

3. Rufous Hummingbird

• Range: Western US and Canada.
• ID: The “Copper Penny.” Males are bright orange-brown (rust colored). They glow like a new penny in the sun.
• Personality: The bully of the bird world. extremely aggressive.

4. Black-Chinned Hummingbird

• Range: Western US (Deserts and Mountains).
• ID: Looks like a Ruby-throat, but the male’s throat is velvety black with a thin strip of purple at the bottom (hard to see without good light).

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📚 Essential Gear

You can’t ID them with the naked eye. You need a guide.

• Recommendation: The Sibley Guide to Birds. It is the bible of birding.

Happy Spotting!