Overview
The Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) is the western counterpart to the famous ruby-throated hummingbird, celebrated for the electrifying metallic violet-purple band that flashes like a neon jewel across the throat of adult males. Abundant throughout the sunlit riparian canyons and desert washes of the American West, this acrobatic pollinator is famous for its high-speed aerial courtship dives.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Archilochus alexandri is a small, slender hummingbird with a straight, black needle-like bill and metallic bronze-green upperparts. Adult males sport a velvety jet-black chin that, when struck by direct sunlight, reveals a blinding lower collar of iridescent amethyst-purple or royal violet. Females and immatures display a clean white throat and pale grey underparts with buffy-washed flanks.
Behavior and Ecology
A master of aerodynamic flight, the Black-chinned Hummingbird beats its wings up to 50 times per second, hovering motionless while inserting its long grooved tongue into tubular flowers like penstemon, agave, and desert willow. During courtship, the male executes spectacular pendulum-like pendulum dives, swooping down in dramatic 60-foot arcs while flaring his glittering violet gorget and producing whirring wing-whistles.
Conservation and Human Impact
Classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, the Black-chinned Hummingbird maintains expanding, healthy populations throughout the western United States, readily adapting to suburban hummingbird feeders and irrigated botanical gardens. Preserving natural desert riparian corridors with cottonwoods and willows remains critical for western breeding success.
Interesting Factoid
The dazzling violet gorget of the male Black-chinned Hummingbird is an optical illusion of micro-prism structures: in normal shade it looks completely flat black, but the instant he tilts his head into direct sunlight, it blazes in radiant neon amethyst.