Black-chinned Hummingbird (female)

Black-chinned Hummingbird (female)

Archilochus alexandri

Hummingbirds are fascinating.  For such a small bird, they are highly territorial and seem to be constantly chasing each other away from feeders or resting branches.  This female was constantly looking around to make sure she wasn't going to be the next target of a dive bomber.  Most people forget that hummingbirds get nutrition from sources other than nectar (flowers or feeder supplied); they eat a tremendous amount of spiders and small insects.  The female black-chinned and the female ruby-throated are very similar and hard to tell apart.  Not sure I would even have a clue without a picture to study.  Since about a half dozen of each species was present, I wasn't able to take the easy route of eliminating one. I settled on the black-chinned because of the longer bill and grayer head vs the greener head expected on a ruby-throated.  Would have been more helpful to see the wing shape (tips are broader on black-chinned) but the wing is to close to the body to tell.  This picture was taken at the old bird blind at Pedernales Falls State Park in Johnson City, Texas, one of my favorite picture-taking spots.  It can be difficult taking hummingbird pictures there because they always seem to be where the light is behind them and I end up with hummingbird silhouettes.  Got a bit of luck with this one as she landed nearby and stayed long enough in some decent light to get some shots.