After an exceptionally warm autumn, it's starting to look like a normal winter in the Arizona desert, with occasional rainfall and cool temperatures. Snowbirds - both human and avian - from the chilly northern climates of the continent are making their annual visits. One quite unique visitor this season is a juvenile male rufous hummingbird that's been spotted frequently at Phoenix' Desert Botanical Garden.
Rufous hummingbirds travel as far north as Alaska to mate and raise their young. Typically they travel north from Mexico through California in late spring, breeding in early summer somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and then migrating back to Mexico via the Rocky Mountains starting later in the summer. It's on this return flight that they visit the mountains and deserts of Arizona
While it's not unprecedented, it's rare for one to pick the Sonora Desert for a winter sojourn versus its normal residence in southern Mexico. Whatever the reason, the male rufous hummingbird seems to be thriving in the corner of the Botanical Garden that it's claimed as a winter home. I look forward to return trips to see his gorget feathers develop into a full, vibrant red bib.
Rufous hummingbirds travel as far north as Alaska to mate and raise their young. Typically they travel north from Mexico through California in late spring, breeding in early summer somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and then migrating back to Mexico via the Rocky Mountains starting later in the summer. It's on this return flight that they visit the mountains and deserts of Arizona
While it's not unprecedented, it's rare for one to pick the Sonora Desert for a winter sojourn versus its normal residence in southern Mexico. Whatever the reason, the male rufous hummingbird seems to be thriving in the corner of the Botanical Garden that it's claimed as a winter home. I look forward to return trips to see his gorget feathers develop into a full, vibrant red bib.
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in Phoenix. |
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in Phoenix. |
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in Phoenix. His red gorget is developing. |
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in Phoenix. |
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in Phoenix. A slight turn of his neck lets the light catch his developing red gorget. |
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| Juvenile male rufous hummingbird in flight gathering nectar in Phoenix. |
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