Rufous Hummingbird Selasphorus rufus This information was scanned from The Birds of British Columbia (Campbell et al.), Volume II, page 416. Volumes I, II and III of The Birds of British Columbia can be ordered electronically at: orders@ubcpress.ubc.ca from UBC Press in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

Range Rufous Hummingbird breeds from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and southwestern Alberta south to northwestern California and southern Idaho. Winters in southern Texas and Mexico.

Status Fairly common to locally common migrant and summer visitant throughout most of British Columbia including Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands. Very rare summer visitant to the northeastern corner of the province. Breeds.

Status Change No change.

Nonbreeding The Rufous Hummingbird is distributed throughout most of British Columbia, becoming sporadic in the northeastern corner of the province. It occurs from sea level to at least 2,260 m elevation. It frequents a wide variety of habitat types including residential areas, coastal forests and islands, logging slashes and burns, deciduous growths at forest edges, open interior forests, willow swamps, subalpine forests, and alpine meadows. The first male Rufous Hummingbirds arrive on the south coast in early March, at least 3 weeks earlier than in the interior. Females follow, arriving up to 3 weeks later. The main movement occurs in April on the coast and in May in the interior. Adult males leave the breeding areas in late June and through July, likely moving to higher elevations where a fresh bloom of wildflowers awaits. Most hummingbirds have left the northern regions by mid-August, the southern interior by September, and the coast by October.

Breeding Nests Eggs Young The Rufous Hummingbird breeds throughout most of its summer range in the province, north to at least Dokdaon Creek, excluding the northeastern portion of the province. It breeds from near sea level to 1,830 m elevation. Nesting habitats include dense mature and second growth coniferous forests, deciduous woods, riparian thickets, swamps and meadows, farmland, pasture edges, orchards, and residential areas such as city yards, parks, gardens, and golf courses.

Nests:  Most nests (76%; n=235) were situated in coniferous trees, including western red-cedar (27%), Douglas-fir (11%), spruce (Sitka, white, Engelmann), western hemlock, pine (lodgepole, ponderosa), grand fir, Rocky Mountain juniper, and western yew. Nest sites in deciduous trees (16%) included domestic apple, plum, pear, and apricot, birch, red alder, bigleaf maple, arbutus, vine maple, black cottonwood, horse chestnut, holly, trembling aspen, walnut, and oak. Deciduous tree use may be underestimated; Horvath (1964) notes that in summer the crowns of deciduous trees are used by hummingbirds as nest sites, allowing the birds to benefit from the temperature-reducing effects of the evapotranspiration of the trees. Shrub nest sites (8%) included saskatoon, salal, ocean-spray, salmonberry, and honeysuckle. A few nests were used the previous year; 1 site was used 3 years in succession. Most nests were near the end of a branch. One was found in a cavity left by a rotting branch, one was built on a wind chime on the fourth floor balcony of an apartment (RBCM Photo 935), and one was found on a metal loop over a wharf piling. Most were small neat bowls composed primarily of moss lined with plant down (black cottonwood, willows, cattail). The outsides of the nests were usually covered with lichen attached with spider webbing; one exterior was covered with birch bark. Other materials included hair, fine grasses, plant fibres and bark, needles, feathers, twigs, and leaves. Nests (n=244) ranged in height from 0.5 to 18 m with 85% recorded between 0.5 and 3 m. The diameters of 3 used nests ranged from 3.8 to 6.4 cm; 1 nest was 2.5 cm deep. Eggs: Dates for 150 clutches ranged from 30 March (RBCM 846) to 10 July, with 52% recorded between 15 May and 14 June. Egg laying at the coast can begin up to 6 weeks earlier than in the interior. Clutch size ranged from 1 to 4 eggs (lE-10, 2E-137, 3E-2, 4E-1) with 90% having 2 eggs. For 7 clutches in British Columbia the incubation period ranged from 15 to 17 days. Young: Dates for 134 broods ranged from 14 April to 9 August with 53% recorded between 31 May and 2 July. Brood size ranged from 1 to 3 young (lY-15, 2Y-118, 3Y-1) with 88% having 2 young. The nestling period for 15 nests in British Columbia ranged from 21 to 26 days.

Remarks REMARKS: Most winter records for this hummingbird in British Columbia are without adequate data and are from locations where the Anna's Hummingbird winters (see Clay 1947, Irving 1953, Lemon 1958, Boggs and Boggs 1960, Poynter 1960, and Guiguet 1978). One occurrence, verified by colour photographs, was in Victoria on 8 and 9 January 1983: an adult male at a feeder; temperature -2°C, snowing. Other reports have been discounted, including Christmas counts (see Anderson, R.R. 1980, 1982). Observers are encouraged to provide full documentation for sightings of the Rufous Hummingbird for the period December to February. During the past decade faculty and students at the University of British Columbia have produced a series of important papers on the Rufous Hummingbird, including Gass (1974, 1978, 1979); Gass et al. (1976), and Purdy (1978). POSTSCRIPT: On 28 February 1988, an adult female Rufous Hummingbird died of cold (UBC 14894) in North Vancouver. This appears to be the second valid winter record.

Located at: 675 Belleville Street, Victoria, British Columbia, CANADA

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