Rufous Hummingbird

©Bruce Enns

Published: June 28, 2010

A male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) stretches atop a twig. Bruce Enns captured the shot in his backyard in Castlegar, British Columbia, in May 2010. The bird was one of three males that tried to establish territories in his yard, which is at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers.

“The birds are very aggressive toward each other and toward the Calliope and Black-chinned Hummingbirds that also come to feed at the numerous feeders I put out for them every spring,” Bruce says. “This photograph was taken in the afternoon while the bird was taking a break and doing a bit of stretching in between guarding a pair of feeders on the shaded west side of the house. The perch is natural (the dead top of a dwarf apple tree) and the background is some distant bright sunlit deciduous trees.”

Bruce used a Canon 7D camera, a Canon EF 500mm f/4 L lens, a 1.4x extender, and no flash. The equipment was set on a tripod, and he was seated in an Ameristep Doghouse blind on his back deck about 18 feet (5.5 meters) from the bird. You can see more of Bruce’s photos on his website.
 
Read about our readers’ favorite places to watch hummingbirds.

Read photographer Steve Maslowski’s guide to blinds. (Subscriber access only.)

See photos of other hummingbirds:
- Anna's Hummingbird female and nestling
- Anna's Hummingbird with a water-soaked bill
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Broad-tailed Hummingbird
- Buff-bellied Hummingbird
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Costa's Hummingbird
- Purple-crowned Woodnymph
- Purple-throated Carib
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched
- Rufous Hummingbird in flight at Oregon's William L. Finley NWR
- Rufous Hummingbird chicks in the nest
- Rufous Hummingbird hovering near a nectar feeder in British Columbia
- Rufous Hummingbird, close-up portrait of hovering bird
- Rufous Hummingbirds colliding in flight
- Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
- Tufted Coquette
- Violet-crowned Woodnymph
- White-eared Hummingbird

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