A female ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) feeding on a salvia (Salvia spp.) plant. Photo copyright Mike Lentz, www.pbase.com/mike_lentz.

Ruby-throated hummingbird
Archilochus colubris

Description: Ruby-throated hummingbirds are about 7.5 to 9 cm long and weigh 3.5 grams. Males have an emerald green back, an iridescent ruby red throat, gray flanks, and an entirely dark, forked tail. The female differs from the male as she is larger with a longer bill, has a white breast and throat, and has a rounded tail with white tips. Immature birds resemble the female. These birds feed exclusively on nectar and insects, but they will eat tree sap when nectar is scarce. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are the only breeding hummingbird in the eastern United States.

Life History: Members of this species are solitary, only coming together to mate. Breeding season occurs between March and July, with peak breeding occurring in mid-May. Males migrate to the breeding ground in the central and eastern United States and southern Canada before females to establish territories. Upon the females return, the males perform courtship displays when a female enters its territory. The male erects its red throat feathers and harasses the female. He also performs a dive display by flying in looping dives above the female. After copulation the female creates a walnut-sized nest attached to a tree limb and raises the young alone. The nest is an open cup made of thistle and dandelion down and held together by spider webs. The outside of the nest is covered in lichens. A typical clutch size is two, with eggs being white and pea-sized. The eggs are incubated for 10 to 16 days, and the young remain in the nest for 14 to 28 days. They are born helpless and naked. The female continues to feed the young for 10 days after they leave the nest. The female generally has two broods, but occasionally has three. These birds migrate to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean to overwinter. A roundtrip migration can be as far as 500 miles. Amazingly, these tiny birds fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat: Ruby-throated hummingbirds winter in tropical deciduous or dry forests, scrubland, citrus groves, and second growth forests. They breed in mixed woodlands, eastern deciduous and pine forests, gardens, and orchards.

Distribution:

These birds are found in North and Central America. They breed throughout the eastern United States and in southern Canada. The species winters in southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.

Status: The population is stable and common in its range.

Resources:

Ruby-throated hummingbird: Archilochus colubris (United States Geological Survey)

Celebrating Wildflowers: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) (Fish and Wildlife Management Leaflet, Dec. 1999, No. 14, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Archilochus colubris: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (M. S. Harris and R. Naumann, Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology)

Ruby-throated hummingbird: Archilochus colubris (Hummingbirds.net)