Stats

Lifespan: 3-8 yrs
Size: Tiny
Diet: Nectarivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Arid scrubland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

A small hummingbird of western North America, named for the male's iridescent purple-black throat patch (gorget) that can look plain black until the light catches it. Males perform a distinctive pendulum-shaped courtship display flight.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2.
hatchling
A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Archilochus
Species: Archilochus alexandri