{"id":69598,"date":"2020-05-08T05:16:56","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T11:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=69598"},"modified":"2024-09-08T10:21:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T15:21:23","slug":"female-broad-tailed-hummingbird-feeding-hovering-and-resting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/08\/female-broad-tailed-hummingbird-feeding-hovering-and-resting\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Broad-Tailed Hummingbird Feeding, Hovering And Resting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Broad-tailed Hummingbird hovering under a Wax Currant – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago I photographed my first of the season Broad-tailed Hummingbird<\/span><\/a> and I was elated that the bird was a female. Why? Because I have taken more photos of male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds than I have of the females and I see the females less often too.<\/p>\n

\"Broad-tailedBroad-tailed Hummingbird female feeding on the nectar of a Wax Currant – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps I see the female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds less often than I do the males because right after the females arrive on their breeding grounds they are busy building tiny nests from spiderwebs and mosses, laying eggs, incubating, and tending to their young.\u00a0 Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds don’t assist with any of that.<\/p>\n

\"Broad-tailedBroad-tailed Hummingbird female hovering under a Wax Currant flower – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The males seem to have their favorite perches near their feeding grounds but I haven’t noticed that kind of perch preference while observing females in the field.<\/p>\n

\"HoveringHovering female Broad-tailed Hummingbird in May – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed that this particular female fed from under the branches of the Wax Currant shrub more often than she fed out in the open. That might be because the currant flowers were just barely opened but she might also have fed that way to shield herself from the view of potential predators or territorial males.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Broad-tailed Hummingbird back view – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I included this photo because it showed the female Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s tail fanned out. The rufous coloring on the outer tail feathers along with the the white tips are some of the key features I use when identifying the females of this species.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Broad-tailed Hummingbird in a spotlight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn’t sure I liked this photo of the female Broad-tailed Hummingbird because such a large portion of her body and wings are in the shadows but I really, really liked the spot of light on her eye.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting female Broad-tailed Hummingbird – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After feeding the little female Broad-tailed Hummingbird did rest for a few moments on the Wax Currant bush before she flew off into the forest. I was delighted to photograph her out in the open, to spend time with her while she was feeding on the nectar of the currant and to have her in my viewfinder for as long as I did.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I photographed my first of the season Broad-tailed Hummingbird and I was elated that the bird was a female.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134184,"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":[27,2340,358,26,1314],"tags":[5180,2651,195,10447,4040,4070,9853,5889,4109,4174,6043,2652,5487,9854,4069,3912,10446,4156,7161,2341,9852,6285,30,7160],"class_list":["post-69598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-broad-tailed-hummingbirds","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-back-view","tag-broad-tailed-hummingbird","tag-canyons","tag-cornus-sericea","tag-feeding","tag-female","tag-flower","tag-flowering-shrub","tag-grasses","tag-hovering-2","tag-hummingbird","tag-hummingbirds-2","tag-identifying","tag-key-features","tag-mountains","tag-nectar","tag-red-osier-dogwood","tag-resting","tag-ribes-cereum","tag-selasphorus-platycercus","tag-spotlight","tag-tail","tag-utah-2","tag-wax-currant"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-female-mia-mcpherson-0744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-i6y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58286,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/01\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-bliss-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":69598,"position":0},"title":"Broad-tailed Hummingbird Bliss in The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent yesterday morning enjoying a Broad-tailed Hummingbird bliss in the Wasatch Mountains by finding their favorite perches and photographing them feeding, resting, and defending their territories.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird at a blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, 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Wild Turkeys and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The gems of my photographic journey yesterday morning were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that were hanging around a Wax Currant bush next to the dirt road where the sounds of their wings alerted me to their presence.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hovering male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-mountains-male-mia-mcpherson-7021.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-mountains-male-mia-mcpherson-7021.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Broad-tailed Hummingbird male in a mountain canyon, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-8711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-8711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-8711.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-8711.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Hummingbirds And Their Favorite Perches","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In just a matter of days Wax Currants will start to bloom in some of the lower elevations of the mountains that aren't far from where I live and that has me excited.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Broad-tailed Hummingbird male resting on a favorite perch, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-9192.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-perched-mia-mcpherson-9192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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