Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a tiny, dazzling bird and the sole hummingbird species that breeds across most of eastern North America. Males have an emerald-green back and crown and a brilliant, iridescent red throat patch (gorget) that can appear velvety black when not catching direct light—a common source of identification confusion. Females and immatures lack the red throat, instead showing a plain whitish throat, along with a green back and a rounded tail edged in white.

Despite weighing only about as much as a penny, this species undertakes an astonishing migration, with many individuals crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single nonstop flight of roughly 800 km (500 miles).

Key field marks

• Male: brilliant iridescent ruby-red throat (gorget), emerald-green back, forked tail
• Female: white throat (no red), green back, rounded tail with white tips
• Very small size, needle-thin bill, hovering flight

Similar species

• Black-chinned Hummingbird: male shows a black throat with a thin purple band at the base, mostly a western species with limited range overlap.
• Other female/immature hummingbirds: often very difficult to distinguish; range and season are important clues since Ruby-throated is the only breeding hummingbird across most of the East.

Range and habitat

Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds across the eastern United States and southern Canada, using gardens, woodland edges, meadows, and forest clearings with abundant flowering plants.

Migration

A long-distance migrant, wintering mainly in Mexico and Central America. Many individuals fly nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico during spring and fall migration, an especially demanding feat for such a small bird.

Behavior

Highly territorial at flowers and feeders, males often chase off rivals with fast, aggressive dives and chases; wings beat roughly 50 times per second, producing the characteristic humming sound.

Voice

Soft chip and squeak notes; the audible hum of the wings is often the first clue to its presence.

Feeding

Feeds on nectar from a wide variety of tubular flowers, as well as sugar-water feeders, and also catches small insects and spiders in flight or gleans them from spiderwebs and foliage—an important protein source, especially for feeding nestlings.

Nesting and breeding

Builds a tiny, walnut-sized cup nest of plant down bound with spider silk and camouflaged with lichen, saddled on a thin branch. The female alone incubates 2 eggs for about 2 weeks and raises the young without help from the male.