Ruby-throated Hummingbird

For everyone east of the Great Plains, 'hummingbird' means this bird. Ruby-throateds breed from the Gulf Coast to southern Canada, then vanish to Mexico and Central America each winter — many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single 18-to-22-hour, 500-mile flight.

Range

Breeds across the entire eastern half of the US and southern Canada, west to the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and central Texas. Winters mainly from southern Mexico to Panama, with small numbers along the Gulf Coast and in Florida.

Migration timing

Vanguard males cross the Gulf Coast in late February. Arrival sweeps north with the spring bloom: the mid-South in March, the mid-Atlantic and lower Midwest through April, and the northern tier in early to mid-May. Adult males head south first, starting in late July; females and juveniles follow through September, and northern states are essentially empty by early October.

How to identify one

• Male: iridescent ruby-red gorget (throat) that can look black in shade; emerald-green back; forked tail
• Female: green above, clean whitish below, white-tipped rounded tail — no red
• Tiny even for a hummingbird: about 3 to 3.5 inches, weight of a penny

At the feeder

Fiercely territorial — one dominant bird will guard a feeder against all comers, so hanging two or three feeders out of sight of each other feeds far more birds than one large feeder. Traffic peaks in late summer when adults and the year's young stack up before migration.

Where to find the Ruby-throated Hummingbird

FeederDates › Hummingbirds › Species › Ruby-throated Hummingbird