Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Selasphorus platycercus

Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds breed in the sub-alpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains. Summers find them as far north as Southern Idaho and Wyoming, and south in eastern-central California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and the hill country of western Texas. Some of their members remain on territories scattered throughout Mexico. During winter, those birds breeding in the north migrate south and join their compadres in Mexico.

Weather summer or winter, Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds seek high altitudes for both their homes and their Mexican haunts. They often seek 9,000′ to 10,000 feet elevations, and sometimes even higher.

Taxonomists regard Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds as monotypic (i.e. there are no subspecies recognized).

I need to do a better job of keeping my eyes peeled during my travels. I have traveled extensively through regions where they spend time. Until recently, I have only photographed them in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona. In the spring of 2023, while visiting friends in New Mexico, I enjoyed their company. Perhaps I haven’t spent enough time high enough up-slope to meet them.