May 14, 2025
Nope …. that’s not a title typo!
Of all the hummingbirds migrating through central New Mexico, the male Rufous ‘hummer’ (Selasphorus rufous) is the most spectacular. Showing up when our hot Summer temps begin to soar, he has two things on his mind ……. #1. find the best patch of nectar-rich tubular flowers, and #2. keeping that patch all to himself to refuel before completing his 4,000 mile migration from southern Mexico to southern Alaska. Upon arriving from Mexico, the flashy 2-1/2” long Rufous, garbed in a feathery cloak of flame colored oranges and reds, quickly lays claim to an area of sweetly blooming flowers that may include penstemon, columbine, scarlet gilia, Indian paintbrush, mint, lily, fireweed, larkspur, currant, and heath. Determined to defend his patch against all invaders, he performs a quick flower flyover. If satisfied the coast is clear (for now), he takes up a strategic observational post by perching on a nearby tree branch to watch for rival hummers.
Ever alert and constantly in motion, his perch gives him a great vantage point to scan the area by looking right and left/up and down, all the while making quiet chittering and chipping noises. If another hummer, and especially a male Rufous dares to enter his territory and sip from his flowers, oh no! Becoming highly agitated, the perched bird spreads his tail while flashing his colorful gorget (throat feathers) seconds before dive bombing his competitor, loudly screaming his alert call while attempting scare off the thief. If this tactic doesn’t work, i.e. the rival is determined to hold his piece of air space, a duel is declared.
Rufous hummers are well known for their aerial acrobatics. Perhaps you’ve witnessed their display, which likely put you in awe of this little powerhouse. If not, what you’ve missed is their incredible speed of initial attack, their precision, the cacophony of noise coming from such a tiny blur of a bird, the maneuverability of numerous aerial loop-de-loops and J-pattern sky displays allowing them to dive repeatedly at their foe, and their tireless determination in defending their rights to their flowers. It’s a spectacle you have to see to believe!
The Rufous will attack not only males and females of their species, but hummingbirds of all species, and even large insects, all with the audacity to steal precious nectar from his prized flowers.
And never, ever sit near or below a hummingbird feeder when there’s a Rufous in the neighborhood. I learned the hard way after being attacked over and over again by a surprisingly intimidating Rufous hummer. Despite being thankful I chose to wear a hat that afternoon, a large dose of common sense had me backing away from his feeder for fear he might have a stroke before drawing blood. My heart still races when recalling this thrilling yet scary encounter.
While reading about the Rufous, I learned that all ages and both sexes of this species are aggressive, even during their brief 1-2 week migration stopovers. This is certainly very good information to know about, having only witnessed males launch themselves at intruders, myself included!
Can’t wait for Rufous migration season!
Have you learned something new about this wildly fascinating and fiery hot hummer of southern Mexico, the Western US, Canada and southern Alaska? If you have a Rufous or any hummingbird story to share, please do! Oh, I also hope you’ve enjoyed my colored pencil artwork of a male Rufous about to sip nectar from a freshly blooming penstemon.
As always, thanks for stopping by!
a curious nature 
Miss having a hummingbird feeder in the yard where I could almost set the clock to the times they would come and feast. Now I rely on whatever flowers might attract them, although this part of the Northeast, I don’t see them too frequently. Love your artwork and your informative posts! Thanks for sharing.
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Oh nice ….. that must’ve been fun setting a clock by the comings and goings of your hummers. Having a feeder can be fun, but we’ve opted to not put one up. The summer I was dive bombed by a rufous hummer was the year we fought ant parades climbing up and down the feeder shepherd’s hook. Must’ve been too much to resist all that sugary goodness. In the NE you must be visited by Ruby throated hummers. Can’t think of any other species up there. Here we have 4 species; several are breeding/nesting species. So I’m working hard to cultivate plants that have tubular flowers. Really appreciate your comments on my post and artwork. Thanks so much Dian!
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Barb –
Your hummingbird is beautiful and your post just made me smile. 💗
Dee
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Thanks so much Dee! Love the hummers and creating these colored pencil works is lots of fun. Thanks for commenting and for sharing your smile! 😊
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Loving the way you colored the bird; you make him accurately speedy like a blur. I definitely enjoy your artwork! 😀
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What a wonderful comment! Thank you so very much Z.F. He was a fun hummingbird to create!
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Your drawing is beautiful!
When my husband and I first moved to the house we now live in, we put out hummer feeders and found that they swarmed! I don’t know what it was about that year or those circumstances, but we had three feeders that we filled twice a day, and the hummers were so thick that they looked like mosquitos from a distance! It was amazing! Since then, we’ve had a few hummers but never like that summer.
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Oh my gosh, Lisa! What an incredible story! Can’t imagine that many hummers in one place at the same time. Amazing. Wonder why that was a one-time thing? Possibly a big series of storms altering their migration. Maybe being so exhausted and happened to “sniff” out your feeders. “Sugar feast! Follow me everyone!!!” Just a wild idea! Do hummers “sniff”? Thx so much for sharing!
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The Rufous is amazing, isn’t it?! It’s long migration journey is as miraculous as the Monarch Butterfly. Your art work captured it’s demeanor beautifully– a clear mission for nectar with a fierce side-eye glance of warning! We saw only 1 at our feeder last month, but I’m sure we’ll see them again around July on their way back from Alaska to Mexico. We did sit under a feeder on a balcony above us at an Air B&B one time in late May — the Rufous antics were phenomenal! Territorial, vocal, and zipping high & low made for quite the nature entertaining show! Thanks for sharing, Barb!
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Thank you, dear Karen, for the lovely comments and for sharing your rufous encounter! Hope all is going well in Ontario.
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