Hummingbird in flight, rufous flanks
Selasphorus sp.
Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird · San Diego Botanic Garden · 7 March 2026
A hummingbird hovering in a San Diego garden, wings blurred mid-beat and tail fanned for the stop. The rufous wash through the flanks and tail base points to Selasphorus rather than Anna's - Allen's, which breeds on this coast, or Rufous, which passes through in March on the longest migration of any hummingbird, Mexico to Alaska.
As with the other birds in this garden, female and immature Rufous and Allen's aren't reliably told apart from an image like this one; it comes down to the width of particular tail feathers.
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