About Basilinna xantusii (Lawrence, 1861)
Xantus's hummingbird (scientific name Basilinna xantusii (Lawrence, 1861)) measures 8.5 to 9.5 cm (3.3 to 3.7 in) in total length. Males have an average weight of 3.5 g (0.12 oz), while females average 3.4 g (0.12 oz). Both sexes have straight bills approximately 1.7 cm (0.67 in) long. Male bills are red with a black tip. For females, the maxilla is black with a pinkish base, and the mandible is pinkish red with a black tip. Male Xantus's hummingbirds have a golden green to emerald green crown, nape, and upperparts, with rufous edging on their uppertail coverts. Their forehead and chin are black, their face is mostly black with a wide white stripe behind the eye, and their throat is iridescent emerald green. Their underparts are cinnamon, with some green mottling on the flanks and pale cinnamon undertail coverts. Their tail is rufous chestnut: the innermost pair of tail feathers have wide iridescent green edges, and the remaining four pairs have thin green edges. Females have a blackish brown face with a pale buffy stripe behind the eye. Their forehead is dull brownish, and their upperparts are iridescent golden green with some rufous edging on the uppertail coverts. All of their underparts, including the throat and undertail coverts, are pale to medium cinnamon. On the female's tail, the central pair of feathers are golden green with a rufous shaft. The other four pairs are dark rufous that pales toward the end, with a black and bronzy green band near the end and thin white tips. This species is distributed from central Baja California south to the tip of the Baja California peninsula. It has also been recorded as a vagrant: twice in California and once in British Columbia. It inhabits arid scrub, oak, and pine-oak woodlands at elevations between 150 and 1,500 m (490 and 4,900 ft), and it also occurs in coastal desert, gardens, and at feeding stations.
