STATUS: Rare in Colorado, elsewhere uncommon to common.
HABITAT: Found above 5,000 feet in deciduous woods along streams, and in pine or oak woods on mountain slopes and ridges.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Flowers for nectar.
NEST: Builds nest on a horizontal branch from 20 to 55 feet above the ground. Uses a variety of trees for nesting, including cottonwoods, mountain maples, sycamores, alders, walnuts, pines, and Douglas-fir.
FOOD: Visits flowers for nectar, including those of agave, iris, and bright-red salvia. Also eats leaf bugs, aphids, leafhoppers, parasitic wasps, beetles, flies, moths, and spiders.
REFERENCES: Cottam and Knappen 1939, Johnsgard 1983b, Kaufman in Farrand 1983b, Terres 1980.