Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

The Lu­cifer Hum­ming­bird is found pri­mar­ily in cen­tral and north­ern Mex­ico. It is oc­ca­sion­ally found as far north as south­east Ari­zona, south­west New Mex­ico, and west Texas.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Habi­tats vary widely de­pend­ing on the ge­o­graphic lo­ca­tion. The Lu­cifer hum­ming­bird can be found in the plains, foothills, and on the sides of rocky hill­sides through­out its range.

• Terrestrial Biomes
• desert or dune
• chaparral
• scrub forest

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

The lu­cifer hum­ming­bird is medium-sized with fairly small wings, a long bill, and a deeply forked tail. The male hum­ming­bird has a green fore­head and pur­ple iri­des­cence along the sides of its neck, which is bor­dered by white on both sides. The fe­male has an un­usu­ally curved bill, no iri­descense, and is light brown around the breast and throat areas.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• bilateral symmetry

Re­pro­duc­tion

Lu­cifer hum­ming­birds do not form pair bonds and are prob­a­bly polyg­a­mous, al­though the male does dis­play with a mat­ing dance at nests. Most dis­plays occur dur­ing nest­build­ing and egglay­ing. Dis­play con­sists of the male fly­ing back and forth be­tween two perches, a ver­ti­cal flight fol­lowed by a pow­er­ful spi­ral­ing dive to­wards the fe­male, end­ing with er­ratic lat­eral flight. Cop­u­la­tion has yet to be ob­served. Breed­ing sea­son is known to last from April to Au­gust.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

Lifes­pan/Longevity

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  4.1 (high) years

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  49 months

  Bird Banding Laboratory

Be­hav­ior

Lu­cifer hum­ming­birds hover and make quick, straight flights be­tween perches or the nest and for­ag­ing area. They also often go on spe­cific fly­catch­ing flights. Males de­fend nec­tar plants against all con­spe­cific hum­ming­birds, as well against black-chinned hum­ming­birds. Fe­males de­fend the areas around the nests against other fe­male hum­ming­birds and preda­tor species. So­cial be­hav­ior be­tween adults and ju­ve­niles does not exist. Nests are in close prox­im­ity to each other, and fe­males often steal nest ma­te­r­ial and are ag­gres­sive to­wards each other.

• Key Behaviors
• flies
• motile

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

The main sources of food for Lu­cifer hum­ming­birds in­clude spi­ders, small in­sects (pri­mar­ily flies), and nec­tar from var­i­ous plant species. They take nec­tar from the flower tube while hov­er­ing, rather than by cut­ting the base or side of the stem. While de­fend­ing nec­tar plants, Lu­cifers will some­times cap­ture small in­sects for food. This usu­ally oc­curs dur­ing the early morn­ing hours (8 am to 11 am). In one study, the hum­ming­birds made as many as 200 fly­catch­ing flights in the first hour (8-9 am) and as few as 13 in the third hour (11-12 am). This is prob­a­bly be­cause the in­sects are both more vis­i­ble and more abun­dant in the early morn­ing light. The fe­male for­ages for spi­ders to feed their young.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Dur­ing the nine­teenth cen­tury, the Lu­cifer hum­ming­bird was cap­tured to be stuffed and mounted, or sold alive. Mem­bers of this species may play a role in the pol­li­na­tion bi­ol­ogy of some species of plants.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

The habi­tats fre­quented by the lu­cifer hum­ming­bird (arid, rugged areas) may help to lessen the im­pact of hu­mans on hum­ming­bird pop­u­la­tions. In­for­ma­tion on the past abun­dance of the Lu­cifer hum­ming­bird and its pre­sent sta­tus is lack­ing.

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

Other Com­ments

Mat­ing dis­plays among Lu­cifer hum­ming­birds are unique. While other hum­ming­bird species per­form flight dis­plays away from nest­ing sites, the Lu­cifer hum­ming­bird dis­plays at the nests of fe­males dur­ing nest­build­ing and egg-lay­ing. The rea­sons for this be­hav­ior are un­known.

Con­trib­u­tors

Jen­nifer Roof (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

Scott, Peter E. 1994. The Birds of North Amer­ica. No. 134. The Amer­i­can Or­nithol­o­gists' Union.

Ehrlich P., Dobkin D., Wheye D. 1988. The Birder's Hand­book: A Field Guide to the Nat­ural His­tory of North Amer­i­can Birds. Simon and Schus­ter, Toronto.