Violet-Crowned Hummingbird or Allen's Hummingbird?

General appearance

The Allen's hummingbird is a small species, measuring between 3-3 1/2" (8-9 cm), roughly the size of a Sparrow. The bird displays a variety of colors including black, green, orange, red, and white. Its physical features consist of a multi-pointed, rounded, and wedge-shaped tail, with narrow, rounded and short wings.

Male vs female

Mature males have coloration similar to a Rufous Hummingbird, with the notable distinction of a green back. However, Rufous Hummingbirds can also display green backs making identifying Allen's challenging outside of their typical range. The females and young of the species are completely identical to their Rufous counterparts.

Juvenile

The juvenile Allen's hummingbirds inherit the identical appearance of the female and are similar to Rufous younglings, so identifying them can potentially be difficult. Instead, their range of habitat can provide a decent clue towards proper identification.

Primary habitat

The Allen's hummingbird prefers semi-open habitats such as brushy canyons, parks, gardens, open oak woods, and well-wooded suburbs. It can also be found in city parks.

Additional range

The bird migrates to Mexico's foothills and mountain forests during winter. Additionally, it visits high mountain meadows in late summer.

Natural diet

The Allen's hummingbird predominantly feeds on nectar and insects. It seeks nectar from a variety of flowers, favoring red tubular ones such as penstemon, red monkey-flower, red columbine, paintbrush, and scarlet sage. Besides red flowers, it also visits flowers of other colors, like the yellow blooms of tree-tobacco. Additionally, the bird includes tiny insects in its dietary intake.

Bird feeders

At bird feeders, the Allen's hummingbird consumes sugar-water mixtures, which serve as an alternative to nectar found naturally in flowers.