Allen’s Hummingbirds Are August Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar

Summary: Allen’s hummingbirds are August birds on the 2022 Audubon calendar by which the National Audubon Society acquaints Unitedstatesians with vulnerable birds.

Physically and sexually mature female Allen's hummingbirds, less flamboyant in body colors and in crowd behavior, arrange all nest-building and parenting for their two annual two-egg broods; W.K. Higley, ed., Birds and Nature in Natural Colors, vol. II (1905), page 195, illustration 113, specimens from collection of Chicago Natural History Museum curator Frank Morley Woodruff (July 16, 1867-July 21, 1926): No known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Allen’s hummingbirds are August birds, assailed by climate change and suburban development, on the 2022 Audubon calendar by which the National Audubon Society acquaints Unitedstatesians with 12 vulnerable birds in North America.

Wintertime, springtime, summertime backyard feeders bring Apodiformes (from Greek ἄπους via Latin apūs, “footless” and Latin -fōrmēs, “-shaped”) swift order members from fog-shrouded, moist Pacific coastlines. That order’s Trochilidae (from Greek τρέχω [“to run”] and -ίλος [“bird”] via Latin trochilus, “small bird”) hummingbird family claims dense-shrubbed coasts and islands January through August. Selasphorus sasin sasin and Selasphorus sasin sedentarius subspecies and Selasphorus floresii hybrids respectively dwell in south Oregon and California, California Channel Islands and all three sites.

Sasin subspecies, unlike sedentarius (from Greek Σελασφόρος, “light-bearing”; Nootka or Wakashan sasin, “hummingbird”; Latin sedentārius, “sitting”) and Floresi’s hybrid, experiences wintering-range months in central south Mexico.

Allen’s hummingbird mothers-to-be fit lichen flake-, shredded bark-, shredded pine needle-covered, spiderweb-bound nests in creepers or twig forks or on building supports, twigs or weedstalks.

One-inch- (2.54-centimeter-) deep, 1.25- to 1.75-inch (3.18- to 4.45-centimeter) diameter, 10-inch- to 90-foot- (25.4-centimeter- to 27.43-meter-) high nests, get 0.75-inch- (1.91-centimeter-) deep, 7/8-inch (2.22-centimeter) diameter cavities. Cuplike, plant down-honed nests with mossy bases hold elliptical to semi-elliptical, non-glossy, smooth, white, 13- by 9-millimeter (0.52- by 0.35-inch) eggs during 16- to 22-day incubations. Altricial (helpless, from altrix, “[female] nourisher”) hatchlings impart bright and dark impressions with short, yellow bills; dark skin; orange-yellow mouths; and sparse down along their mid-backs.

Allen’s hummingbirds, August birds on the 2022 Audubon calendar, journey to coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), live oaks (Quercus tomentella) and Monterey pines (Pinus radiata) for nests.

Hatchling and nestling Allen’s hummingbirds know mother-made nests as their homes the first 22 to 25 days of their maximally five-year lifespans along light-wooded, shaded streams.

Physically and sexually mature Allen’s hummingbirds, solitary apart six-week mother-egg-hatchling nesting, log 3.5-inch (9-centimeter) lengths, 5-inch (13-centimeter) wingspans and 1/16- to 5/32-ounce (2- to 4-gram) weights. California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica), century plant (Agave americana), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea), monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis) and Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) matter as most popular nectar sources. Crawling, jumping spiders and crawling, flying, jumping insects; feeder mixtures of sugar water; and nectar-laden red tubular and yellow blooms necessitate swallowing solids whole and sipping.

Allen’s hummingbirds occupy the 2022 Audubon calendar as August birds because of their obvious occurrences when January or February through July or August occasion courtship operations.

Allen’s hummingbirds, presented taxonomically by René Lesson (March 20, 1794-April 28, 1849) and by Joseph Grinnell (Feb. 27, 1877-May 29, 1939), always possess black, straight bills.

Adult females queue rufous (from Latin rūfus, “red, red-haired, reddish, redheaded, ruddy”) uppertails with dark tail bands, white underparts with rufous flanks and white-tipped outer-tail feathers. Adult males reveal bronze-green or green crowns, rufous-patched sides to their heads and orange-red throat patches that range above white-patched breasts in turn above rufous underparts. They show bronze-green to green iridescent backs, rufous rumps, rufous tail bases and uppertails and dark-tipped, narrow, pointed tails as they stand on two four-clawed feet.

Flower-hovering, omnidirection-flying, superfast wing-beating Allen’s hummingbirds, as 2022 Audubon calendar August birds, tender buzzy, short tssrr warnings; doubled or serialized chuk calls; fast, raspy tzzerr-tichupy-tichupy twitters.

Allen's hummingbird mothers-to-be and mothers annually assume the architectural astuteness of assembling for two sets of two eggs camouflaged, comfortable living arrangements in plant down-lined, spider's silk-bound lichen-, moss- and non-woody plant part-assembled nests. They assure their hatchlings and nestlings of six weeks of appetizing meals of regurgitated fresh-caught crawling, flying invertebrates; Saturday, April 18, 2015, 09:05, image of "Mother hummingbird with babies," Canyon Crest neighborhood, Riverside, Riverside County, Inland Empire, Southern California: Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Physically and sexually mature female Allen's hummingbirds, less flamboyant in body colors and in crowd behavior, arrange all nest-building and parenting for their two annual two-egg broods; W.K. Higley, ed., Birds and Nature in Natural Colors, vol. II (1905), page 195, illustration 113, specimens from collection of Chicago Natural History Museum curator Frank Morley Woodruff (July 16, 1867-July 21, 1926): No known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birds_and_nature_(1905)_(14569192497).jpg; Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36067385; (no copyright information), via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/birdsnature21905chic/page/195/mode/1up

Allen's hummingbird mothers-to-be and mothers annually assume the architectural astuteness of assembling for two sets of two eggs camouflaged, comfortable living arrangements in plant down-lined, spider's silk-bound lichen-, moss- and non-woody plant part-assembled nests. They assure their hatchlings and nestlings of six weeks of appetizing meals of regurgitated fresh-caught crawling, flying invertebrates; Saturday, April 18, 2015, 09:05, image of "Mother hummingbird with babies," Canyon Crest neighborhood, Riverside, Riverside County, Inland Empire, Southern California: Mike's Birds from Riverside, CA, US, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mother_Hummingbird_with_babies_(17190158952).jpg; Mike's Birds, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/pazzani/17190158952/

For further information:

Baicich, Paul J.; and Colin J. O. Harrison. 2005. "Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)." Page 202. In: Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Second edition. Princeton NJ; and Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England: Princeton University Press.

Dennis, John V.; and Mathew Tekulsky. How to Attract Hummingbirds & Butterflies. San Ramon CA: Ortho Books.

Howell, Catherine Herbert (Writer); and Mary B. Dickinson (Editor). 1999. "Allen's Hummingbird Selasphorus sasin L." Pages 270-271. In: Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Third Edition. Washington DC: National Geographic Society.

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 July 2022. "Reddish Egrets Are July Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/reddish-egrets-are-july-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 June 2022. "American Oystercatchers Are June Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/06/american-oystercatchers-are-june-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 May 2022. "Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks Are May Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/05/rose-breasted-grosbeaks-are-may-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2022. "Crested Caracaras Appear as April Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.<
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/04/crested-caracaras-appear-as-april-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 March 2022. "Cerulean Warblers Are March Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/cerulean-warblers-are-march-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 February 2022. "Northern Bobwhites Are February Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday. Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/northern-bobwhites-are-february-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2022. "Florida Scrub-Jays Are January Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/florida-scrub-jays-are-january-birds-on.html

Peterson, Roger Tory. 2010. "Allen's Hummingbirds Selasphorus sasin." Pages 206-207. In: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. With contributions from Michael Di Giorgio, Paul Lehman, Michael O'Brien and Jeffrey A. Gordon, Larry Rosche, [and] Bill Thompson. Sixth Edition. Boston MA; and New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Robbins, Charles S.; Bertel Bruun; and Herbert S. Zim. 2001. "Allen's Hummingbird Selasphorus sasin." Pages 188-189. In: Birds of North America. Revised by Jonathan P. Latimer and Karen Stray Nolting and James Coe. New York NY: St. Martin's Press.

Robbins, Chandler S., Bertel Bruun, with Herbert S. Zim. 1983. "Allen's Hummingbird Selásphorus sásin." Page 188. In: Birds of North America. A Guide to Field Identification. New York NY: Golden Press; and Racine WI: Western Publishing Company.

Udvardy, Miklos D. F. 1977. "Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin)." Pages 596-597. In: The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region. A Chanticleer Press Edition. New York NY: Borzoi Book, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; and Toronto [Ontario, Canada]: Random House of Canada Limited.

Williamson, Sheri L. 2001. A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America. Peterson Field Guides. Boston MA; and New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

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