Hummingbird
Sounds & Calls

Purple-bibbed Whitetip (Urosticte benjamini)

There are over 360 species of hummingbird currently recognized, all found in the Americas, from the far north of North America all the way down to the southernmost tip of South America.

Hummingbirds are generally very small and include the tiniest bird species of all, the male Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) which measures a total of 5cm in length from bill tip to tail tip and weighs in at under 2 grams – less than half a teaspoon of sugar!

Hummingbirds are famous for their hovering ability and maneuverability in the air. While hovering the wings of some species (genus Chaetocercus) have been measured beating at up to 99 beats per second!

What does a hummingbird sound like? When flying, hummingbirds make an audible humming sound produced by their rapid wingbeats. Each hummingbird species also has its own vocal repertoire which usually consists of simple soft squeaks, chirps, ticks, trills or other sharp notes. Many hummingbird species also sing, with most song phrases being a series of relatively simple, high-pitched notes.

Some hummingbird species such as the Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) use mechanical wing trills (a non-vocal sounds) as a form of communication to aggressively defend their territory.

Listen to some examples of hummingbird calls and sounds below.

Listen to Hummingbird Sounds

The audio in the video below features a range of hummingbird sounds as they fly, buzz, hover & call close to the microphones. This recording was made by a feeder in cloud forest in Ecuador and the sound of a number of hummingbird species can be heard as they feed and interact.

A female Green thorntail (Discosura conversii) is the species in the background photo of this video.

z

Green Hermit – Call and wingbeats

F3GGES-006 This sample features a single call from a Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy) as it approaches a feeder, followed by the humming sounds of its wingbeats as it hovers and feeds for about a minute. Recorded in Río Bigal Biological Reserve, Ecuador.

z

White-booted Racket-tail – Calls and wingbeats

M6MKHG-801 Hovering sounds and calls from White-booted Racket-tails (Ocreatus underwoodii), a tiny glittering green species of hummingbird of the cloud forests of Ecuador, Colombia & Venezuela.

Back to main 'Wildlife Sounds ' page...