Rufous Hummingbird print

Wings spread wide, body tilted just enough to catch the light. The gorget burns copper, then flame, then a flash of molten gold as the angle shifts - that is the Rufous Hummingbird in the moment the plate freezes. The cream ground holds the warm rufous flanks and tail; the white breast cuts through the centre of all that heat.

Selasphorus rufus breeds further north than any other hummingbird, pushing well into Alaska, then loops south through the western mountains each autumn on a round trip that can run to several thousand miles. For a bird that weighs between two and five grams, this is one of the longest migrations, relative to body size, of any species on Earth. The species was uplisted to Near Threatened in 2018, a designation tied to habitat loss and declining insect populations along the migration corridor.

The temperament on that journey is fierce. A Rufous will claim a feeder and defend it against every other hummingbird that approaches, including species twice its size. It is not cautious. Courage, on this bird, appears to be structural.

In a steep courtship dive, the male’s outer tail feathers produce a distinctive whine and pop. It is mechanical music - aerodynamics, not voice. The wings are already blurred at 53 beats per second; the sound they make in a power dive is something else entirely.

In the tradition of Audubon, drawn in flight and printed on archival paper. A small fierce thing, given the stillness it never allows itself.

Full field guide: /species/rufous-hummingbird/

Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm.