UW News

Alejandro Rico-Guevara


April 27, 2023

Video: Tiny, fierce hummingbirds are also an evolutionary delight for UW, Burke researcher

Close up of hummingbird at a feeder

Many of us are familiar with the hummingbirds that visit feeders, plants and gardens around us. But these small creatures are unusual in the ways they push the limits of biology, says Alejandro Rico-Guevara, UW assistant professor biology and curator of ornithology at the Burke Museum. He and his students study hummingbirds and other birds…


September 7, 2022

These female hummingbirds evolved to look like males — apparently to evade aggression

1 in 5 adult female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds look like males. New research from the University of Washington shows that this is a rare case of “deceptive mimicry” within a species: Females with male-like plumage are trying to pass themselves off as males, and as a result receive a benefit in the form of reduced aggression from males.