Black-chinned Hummingbird - A summer resident in Las Vegas Nevada

The Black-chinned hummingbird was the second bird to show up at my patio feeder in Las Vegas, NV. Since he is the hummingbird species I am most familiar with, I had no problems identifying him.

Range: The Black-chinned hummingbird is not only common here in Las Vegas but all through the Intermountain West. He summers and nests anyplace that has an adequate food supply for him. In the wild he especially likes stream-side vegetation. He is totally happy in the desert city of Las Vegas because it has numerous flowering plants, feeders and trees, courtesy of the human inhabitants.

Feeding Habits: The Black-chinned humming bird is an active fly catcher. Hummingbirds need the protein and fat found in insects, as well as the concentrated calories in nectar.

Black-chinned hummingbird female

Like other birds that actively catch flies, he sits at the end of a dead tree branch, as high in the tree as he can get, where he can watch for passing flying insects. When he spots one, he dashes out, grabs it in mid-air and then returns to his perch. Other times he flies just inches from the freshly watered grass, catching the insects attracted by the wet.

Nesting:  Nest building is the job of the female. I have watched her collecting spider webs, winding the strings of the webbing around her bill like a spool. She weaves these into a nest positioned on a bare twig or branch protected by the limbs above it. I have also seen her nest on the supports of a window awning. She had decided this met all her needs: a bare support with overhanging protection.

When the eggs are first laid they are only the size of coffee beans. The newly hatched birds are ¼ inch long. Before the two nestlings are ready to leave the nest at around 16 days, they are each larger than their mother! Her nest needs to expand. Unlike our houses, that requires no work on her part. Because it is made of spider webs and other insect silk, it is able to change shape and stretch as the babies grow.

Identification: At the feeder it is easy to identify the Black-chinned hummingbird. He is small, about the same size as another species that frequents my feeder here in Las Vegas, but he is slimmer. The thing that really identifies him is he tail. It is longer than the other two species that I see I my summer feeder, and it is slightly forked when it is spread out. His bill is also slightly longer than the others with just a hint of a curve.

The male has a truly black chin, even when the light is shining on it. If you see a band of purple feathers, which only show up in the light, you have clinched your identification of the Black-chinned hummingbird male. As in so many hummingbirds, the female and young are extremely hard to identify because they look so much like other species.