{"id":102982,"date":"2022-06-07T03:40:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T09:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=102982"},"modified":"2024-08-01T03:24:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T08:24:34","slug":"broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-flashing-his-gorget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/07\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-flashing-his-gorget\/","title":{"rendered":"Broad-tailed Hummingbird Male Flashing His Gorget"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Broad-tailed Hummingbird flashing his gorget \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought I would share a few photos of a adult male Broad-tailed Hummingbird I took high in the Wasatch Mountains last week as he flashed his gorget. The rose-pink of his gorget is definitely eye-catching and gorgeous. It is always a thrill to see.<\/p>\n

\"RelaxedRelaxed male Broad-tailed Hummingbird \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But the color of the Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s gorget can become much duller in seconds. These first two images are just five frames apart, so less than a second with the burst rate I have with my Nikon D500. The bright pink of the gorget is much less vibrant in the second image.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting adult male Broad-tailed Hummingbird in spring \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In this third image barely any pink shows in the gorget of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbird even though he is on exactly the same perch.<\/p>\n

The feathers in the gorget aren’t pink at all. Those feathers have no pigmentation.<\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert adult male Broad-tailed Hummingbird \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The color that we see in this hummingbird’s gorget comes from the shape and microscopic structure of the feathers and how light interacts with those feather structures. The Broad-tailed Hummingbird can change the angle of those feathers by lifting them up slightly and then we see the iridescence if<\/em> the light angle is just right.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Broad-tailed Hummingbird settling onto his perch \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn’t take much of a light or head angle change for the gorget feathers to show the iridescence again.<\/p>\n

This male Broad-tailed Hummingbird had stretched his wings and tail feathers briefly and was settling back onto his favorite perch.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Broad-tailed Hummingbird showing the color of his gorget \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just three frames later his gorget was an almost neon metallic pink because he turned towards me slightly, fluffed and flashed his gorget feathers. In the blink of an eye that bright pink iridescence was gone again.<\/p>\n

I’ve learned that when I am taking photos of male hummingbirds to try to get a good light angle and to take longer bursts of them than I do female hummingbirds or I might miss the flash of their gorgets.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Broad-tailed Hummingbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

More info on: The Physics of Hummingbird Colors<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I would share a few photos of a adult male Broad-tailed Hummingbird I took high in the Wasatch Mountains last week as he flashed his gorget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2340,4594,26,773],"tags":[4004,6523,6098,6557,7353,2651,3940,5889,12947,10132,6596,12948,2652,4062,4069,4104,9626,2341,6698,6188,4427,6522],"class_list":["post-102982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-broad-tailed-hummingbirds","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-amelanchier-utahensis","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-broad-tailed-hummingbird","tag-canyon","tag-flowering-shrub","tag-forestr-edge","tag-fruiting-shrub","tag-gorget","tag-gummingbird","tag-hummingbirds-2","tag-male","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-selasphorus-platycercus","tag-serviceberry","tag-shrub","tag-tree","tag-utah-serviceberry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qN0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102860,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/03\/male-broad-tailed-hummingbird-and-his-colorful-gorget\/","url_meta":{"origin":102982,"position":0},"title":"Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird And His Colorful Gorget","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This male Broad-tailed Hummingbird showing his colorful gorget was just one of many highlights of my morning yesterday spent with a dear friend high in the mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird and serviceberry blossoms, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Perch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The male Broad-tailed Hummingbird lifted off from the perch so I pre-focused on it, listened for him to come back then when I heard the bird get close to the perch I fired off a burst of shots and captured him in a landing position with the vivid color of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird landing on a favorite perch, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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