One of the most striking birds that makes its home in our part of the world, is the Broad-Billed Hummingbird. Birding in southern Arizona is always a delight, but this 9-10 cm long bird catches your eye, whether feeding, hovering, or resting on a twig in a tree.

The adults are metallic green on the upperparts and breast, with white undertails. The tail is dark and slightly forked. The bill of the mail is slender but red with a black tip. He has a deep blue throat which adds to the contrast of his red bill. The female is a bit less colorful but has a white eye stripe.

They love to breed in the arid scrub of southeastern Arizona and the extreme southwest of New Mexico and northern Sonora. Once and a while you might spot them in southern California, Texas and even Louisiana. They are residents in Mexico all year round. The female builds a small next in a protected tree or shrub, and lays 2-3 white eggs. They are partially migratory, leaving the northern areas during winter. They feed mostly on nectar from flowers, but do catch insects on the wing.

The hummingbird consumes about 1.6 times its body weight in nectar each day, and cannot hop or walk. During courtship, the male Broad-Bill will hover about a foot away from his chosen female, and then fly in repeated arcs, like a pendulum before her.