Features of the Rufous Hummingbird

These dainty, bug-eating hummingbirds are usually between 3 and 4 inches long, according to Wildlife Journal Junior. Their wingspans are usually around 4 inches. And rufous hummingbirds are serious lightweights—literally. They usually tip the scales at somewhere between 0.10 and 0.14 ounces, indicates Animal Diversity Web for the University of Michigan. The rufous hummingbird physique is on the squat and stumpy side.

Male rufous hummingbirds are light reddish-brown in color, with bright crimson throats, green wings, reddish-orange tails and pale chests. Female rufous hummingbirds, on the other hand, have green backs, white undersides, orange markings on their throats and reddish-brown flanks. Not all females have the throat markings, however. In the fairer sex, the tails are green, black and orange, with rufous coloring at the base. The female's tail feathers have white tips, while the male's have black ones instead. As youngsters, rufous hummingbirds are visually similar to female adults. However, their beaks are markedly more crinkled in appearance. The rufous hummingbird is similar in appearance to Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), a fellow tiny avian. One key difference between the species, however, is that male Allen's hummingbirds have green backs, rather than reddish-brown backs.

Rufous hummingbirds have lengthy, narrow and almost perfectly straight bills that are deep brown or black.

Rufous hummingbirds have dainty, small feet. These inconspicuous feet are usually a murky dark brown or black.