Western hummingbirds may make three kinds of sounds:
1. True vocalizations - most make various chip and twitter notes.
Anna's has a full song.
2. Wing trills - Mostt of these are deliberately produce (as opposed
to being an artifact of really fast wings). Broad-tailed
makes a diagnostic 6000Hz whine from the specially tapered 10th
primary, for example.
3. Tail - the sound associated with Rufous displays is presumed to
be produced by the tail (and the notch in Rectrix#2).


two.wing-nuts at juno.com wrote:
>
> Tweeters/Inlanders: We have always heard it said that hummers do not
> vocalize and all you hear is the vibration of their wings. We have been
> sitting out on our deck most every evening watching about half dozen
> hummers feeding, fighting and constantly chirping. They do it while
> perched at the feeder and also in flight. We have watched hummers in
> other locations but have never heard this sound before. Now we hear them
> all the time! Is our hearing improving with age? ;-) Or are we
> halucinating? Will be back next monday to check responses. Thanks
> Hans & Kathryn Krauss, Spokane, WA two.wing-nuts at juno.com
> IT'S BETTER TO BE "WNGNUTS" (vanity plate) THAN DEAD-BOLTS
> Kathryn's office: Parish.Nurse at juno.com

--
Mike Patterson The common view of science is that it is a sort of machine
Astoria, OR for increasing the race's store of dependable facts.
mpatters at oregonvos.net It is that only in part; in even larger part
it is a machine for upsetting undependable facts.

----- H.L.Mencken
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html