Black-chinned Hummingbird Archilochus alexandri
Flight call description A soft, humming "tchif", often doubled or repeated in a series.
Fig.1. Texas January 20, 2001 (John O'Brien).
Immature male perched.
Examples
Diurnal calling sequences:
1. Texas January 20, 2002 (John O'Brien). Immature male in feeding flight with White-winged and Mourning Dove calling in the background.
2. Texas January 20, 2002 (John O'Brien). Immature male perched with Blue Jay calling in the background. Same individual as in ex.1.
3. Louisiana February 10, 2002 (Daniel F. Lane). Adult male perched.
Similar species Very similar to Ruby-throated Hummingbird but longer, less squeaky, and less descending. See Rufous Hummingbird.
Behavior Diurnal migrant. Nocturnal migration not documented. Gives flight call regularly while perched and in flight during the day. Birds in migration flight may be mostly silent.
Spectrographic description The lower frequency band was measured for duration and frequency characteristics. Five calls were measured from three individuals. Each individual's average measurements were then compiled to produce the following average parameters for the three individuals. The average call duration was 27.6 (24.5-31.6) mS. The lower band had an average high frequency of 2.2 (2.1-2.3) kHz and an average low frequency of 1.7 (1.70-1.75) kHz.
Discussion Male calls average higher and buzzier than female calls (Howell, 2001).