Cinnamon Hummingbird

The cinnamon hummingbird is 9.5 to 11.5 cm (3.7 to 4.5 in) long and on average weighs about 5 to 5.5 g (0.18 to 0.19 oz). Adults of the nominate subspecies A. r. rutila have metallic bronze green upperparts and cinnamon to cinnamon rufous underparts that are paler on the chin and upper throat. The tail is deep cinnamon rufous to rufous chestnut; the feathers have dark metallic bronze tips and the outermost have dark metallic bronze outer edges. The wings are a dark brownish slate. Males' bills are red with a black tip and females' mostly black with red at the base. Juveniles are similar to adults but have rufous edges to the face, crown, and rump feathers and an all black bill. The song is "varied, high, thin, slightly squeaky chips, si ch chi-chit or tsi si si-si-sit, or chi chi-chi chi chi, etc." Its call has been described as "a buzzy, scratchy tzip" and "a hard to sharp chik". Amazilia rutila diluta is similar to the nominate, with slightly less intense green upperparts and paler and pinker underparts. A. r. corallirostris is also similar to the nominate but overall its colors are richer and deeper. A. r. graysoni is significantly larger and darker than the nominate but otherwise similar.

The cinnamon hummingbird is resident throughout its range. The subspecies of cinnamon hummingbird are found in the following regions:

Amazilia rutila diluta — NW Mexican states of Sinaloa and Nayarit. A. rutila graysoni — María Madre and Cleopha Islands, part of the Islas Tres Marías archipelago off the coast of Western Mexico. A. r. rutila — Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán and Oaxaca in Mexico; El Salvador, W. Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A. rutila corallirostris — Chiapas in S. Mexico through to El Salvador. The populations in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, as well as N.E. Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, are often attributed to A. r. rutila but have sometimes been considered part of A. r. corallirostris. The cinnamon hummingbird inhabits primary and secondary deciduous and semi-deciduous forests and thorn forest. It ranges from sea level to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) of elevation.

The cinnamon hummingbird usually forages from the understory to the mid-story, but also will visit taller flowering trees. It feeds on nectar from a very wide variety of flowering plants and also eats insects. It is territorial and defends feeding sites from intrusion by other hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.