Rufous Hummingbird in my Garden

Using WhatBird, I was able to identify a really beautiful hummingbird I saw in my garden today as a Rufous Hummingbird. It seems that these guys breed in the Pacific Northwest and spend the winter in Mexico, so he must have been taking a break in my Southern California garden on his way to Mexico.

Photo by Janruss

Photo by Janruss

Some interesting facts I learned from WhatBird:

• The Rufous Hummingbird has the longest migration route of all North American hummingbirds.
• This bird has an excellent memory for location. They have been observed investigating where an absent feeder was located the previous year.
• A group of hummingbirds has many collective nouns, including a “bouquet”, “glittering”, “hover”, “shimmer”, and “tune” of hummingbirds.

You Might Also Like:

1. Easy Ways to Attract Butterflies to Your Urban Garden
2. How to Help Bees Do Thier Work When It’s Hot Outside
3. Colony Collapse Disorder and Attracting Bees to Your Garden