Hover-Worthy Facts:
- The word “rufous” means a reddish-brown color, and males look just like a bright, copper coin zooming through the air.
- When the sun hits the males’ throat, their feathers flash a brilliant, glowing orange-red color that looks like real fire.
- These tiny birds are known for being some of the most aggressive hummingbirds in North America, often defending their favorite flowers from much larger birds.
- These birds make one of the longest migrations of any bird their size, flying all the way from Alaska down through New Mexico to Mexico!
- In the spring, they fly up the Pacific Coast, but when they travel south in the summer, they use the New Mexico mountains as their highway.
- They are naturally drawn to the color red and will zoom right up to check out red shirts, red hats, or red backyard feeders.
- When they are busy flying, their tiny hearts can beat over 1,200 times every single minute to give them super-speed energy.
- Even though they fly thousands of miles over high mountains and hot deserts, one Rufous hummingbird weighs less than a single coin in your pocket
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High Desert Helpers is sponsored through the Trails+ Grant Program by the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division.
