Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Fast Facts
Where: Open areas (such as fields, meadows, and yards) that contain abundant wildflowers.
Size: 4 inches long; weigh 0.1 ounce
Diet: Nectar from flowers, insects, spiders, and sometimes tree sap.
The only hummingbird that breeds in the Northeast.
Spend winter in southern Mexico and Central America.
Have extremely short legs, to reduce their weight.
Males have ruby-colored throat; females have white throat; young males have spotted throat.
Prefer to feed from red and orange tubular-shaped flowers.
Drink nectar with their long tongue.
Can fly forward, backward, upside-down, and hover.
Normally flap wings ~50 times per second; up to 200 times per second during mating behaviors.
Make a small nest where female raises 2-3 young.
Nest is made, in part, of spider web material so it can expand as the young grow.
All individuals, except for a rare few, have left the region by late-September to head southward to their wintering grounds.
Creature Feature
Photo by @coeli_ingold
Introduction
Hummingbirds are named for the humming sound they make when they flap their wings so fast. Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds also have a call that sounds like a mouse’s squeak.
Photo by @mbjphoto
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the only hummingbird that breeds in the northeastern U.S. Of the 366 hummingbird species in the world, fewer than 20 are regularly found in the U.S.
Photo by @clementine_nature
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds typically arrive in the Northeast each year in May. Most have left by the end of August/September. They spend the winter in southern Mexico and throughout much of Central America.
Photo by @snappy.one
Little Beauties
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds only grow to be approximately 4 inches long. They have a 4.5-inch wingspan and weigh a little more than a penny. They have an average of only about 940 feathers. They have among the fewest number of feathers of any bird in the world.
Photo by @feathered_treasure
They have very short legs. This is an adaptation to reduce their weight and thus to expend less energy when flying. Their short legs prevent them from walking or hopping, but they do shuffle along perches.
Photo by @ncbirdwatch
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird gets its name from its iridescent pinkish-red throat coloration. Depending on the lighting, this can range anywhere from bright pink to red, to a dark purple.
Photo by @kgallo55
Young males start to show beginnings of a colored throated, with more of a spotted pattern. Females have an all-white throat.
Photo by @cably723
A Taste for Sweets
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds feed mostly on flower nectar and sometimes tree sap too. They also eat flying insects and spiders. They will sometimes pick insects, and even the spiders themselves, from spider webs.
Photo by @naturemuseimagery
They prefer red and orange flowers that are tubular in shape. Some flowers they really like include Trumpet Creeper, Cardinal Flower, Jewelweed, Bee-Balms, and Red Morning Glory.
Photo by @damorris811
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds lap up nectar with their long tongue. They can flick their tongue in and out up to 10 times per second when feeding.
Photo by Brian Carr
They are readily attracted to hummingbird feeders. Some will get quite territorial of these and chase other hummingbirds away from them.
Photo by @ron_floyd_wildlife_photography
Skilled Aviators
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are very adept flyers. They can fly forward, backward, upside-down, and hover.
Photo by @shawnconlonphotography
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds beat their wings about 50 times per second. They can beat their wings as fast as 200 times per second during some breeding displays.
Photo by @decent_nature_photography
They use a lot of energy flying. They have to constantly eat to make up for this. They eat up to half their body weight in nectar/sugar each day.
Photo by @damorris811
Raising Young
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird nests are tiny; about 2 inches across and 1 inch tall. The inside cup of the nest (where the eggs are) is about the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. The female lays 2-3 eggs, each of which are the size of a blueberry.
Photo by @feathered_treasure
They make their nest from a mix of plant material and also include spider silk so that the nest can expand as the young grow. They decorated the outside of the nest with lichen and moss to help camouflage it.
Photo by @naturemuseimagery
The female raises the young entirely by herself. The young grow quickly, and leave the nest within 2-3 weeks after hatching.
Observations by Month
The plots above show the number of observations of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds for each month for each Northeast State through 2023 (from iNaturalist). You’ll note a general trend of an early peak in May (as they migrate into, and northward through, the Northeast), a drop in June (as a good number of those in May have moved through to breed further north in Canada), and then increasing numbers in July (as newly born young are additionally present), and August (as individuals from further north populations start to move back through southward), and then by the end of September all, except for a few rare stragglers have left the region on their way to wintering grounds in southern Mexico and Central America.
How You Can Help Them
Put out hummingbird feeders: Follow these tips and best practices
Plant wildflower gardens/meadows: Convert part of your yard to native wildflower meadows; among many other benefits of doing this, this creates a natural food source for hummingbirds (and many other pollinators). Here are a list of wildflowers that Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds prefer.
Wildlife Out Your Window: Learn more about Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and ways you can help them in this new book
Migration Tracking: Here is an interesting animated map from the National Audubon Society that shows the timing of the migration of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds throughout the year.