Hummingbird sounds come from three places: the voice box makes chips, chatter and song, the wings make a hum or trill, and in some species the tail feathers make a sharp chirp during a courtship dive. If you hear a squeak at the end of a steep plunge, that is not a call. It is air hitting the tail.
Below is what Cornell documents for each species, so you can match the sound to the bird.
What the chips and chatter are
These are the bird’s actual vocalizations. Cornell says Anna’s Hummingbirds sit high in a bush or small tree and chatter noisily when they are not feeding or displaying.
Rufous Hummingbirds chip when agitated, and they fan their tails while they do it. Cornell also says Rufous birds chase off other hummingbirds, so expect chips around a feeder they have claimed.
The wing hum and trill
The hum that gave the family its name comes from the wings. Cornell describes the Black-chinned Hummingbird’s wings as producing a low-pitched humming sound. The Broad-tailed Hummingbird goes further: males fill the air with loud, metallic trills as they fly, and hovering birds beat their wings about 50 times a second.
If you hear a bright trill in a mountain meadow, think Broad-tailed first.
Video: New Scientist
The dive noise, explained
A male Anna’s Hummingbird climbs as high as 130 feet and plummets toward the ground, and Cornell says the short, high-pitched noise comes from air whipping through his tail feathers. He aims the dive at the watching female.
Allen’s Hummingbird is similar. Its pendulum display makes a stuttering bumblebee-like sound, and the dive ends in a sharp trill made with the tail.
Species comparison
| Species | Voice | Wing sound | Dive or display sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Males chatter noisily from a high perch; an intense song during the shuttle display | Not described | Yes: a short, high-pitched noise from air through the tail feathers, after a dive from up to 130 feet |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | Not described | Wings trill in the shuttle display | Yes: stuttering bumblebee-like sound in the pendulum display, then a sharp tail trill on the dive |
| Broad-tailed Hummingbird | Not described | Loud, metallic trills in flight; about 50 wingbeats per second when hovering | Wings trill loudly during the dives |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | Not described | Low-pitched hum from the wings | Not described |
| Rufous Hummingbird | Chips when agitated, with tail fanned | Not described | Not described for the J-shaped courtship flight |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Calls and a display recording are archived at Cornell | Not described | Not described for the U-shaped dive from up to 50 feet |
Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds species pages (Overview and Life History) for each bird. “Not described” means that page does not state it.
The gaps matter. Cornell does not describe a dive sound for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, so treat a chirp you hear in the east as a call rather than a tail.
How to learn them
Hummingbird sounds are short and easy to miss, so start with one bird at one feeder. Our guide to identifying birds by song covers the habit of listening before looking.
Woodpeckers are the other backyard sound that gets misread; compare notes in woodpecker sound identification. If the same bird keeps coming back to one spot, do hummingbirds remember feeders explains why.
