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The Amazing Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Written By: William McReynolds | Issue: May 2024
“Let me tell ya ‘bout the birds and the bees And the flowers and the trees”
Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding hatchlings
photo by Ed Boos
In May, in the avian world, the birds are full of song as the males look for and try to attract the females, mate, build a nest, and raise a clutch of young’uns.
Nature begins to conspire full-on this month to conceive and launch the
next generation.
Couples form. Nests get built. Eggs laid.
“And the beat goes on.”
Our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are part of this never-ending story. These wizards of flight have returned to the Plateau for the spring and summer. They are easily recognized as tiny, feathered jewels of forest and meadow that dart around flashing an iridescent green crown and back as well as the male’s ruby red throat.
Their movement is unique in the avian world. With wingbeats of over 50 per second, they can reach dizzying speeds, start and stop in an instant, hover, fly backwards and even fly upside down. They achieve lift with both the down stroke and uptake of their pivoting wings. They have endurance as well as agility: this migrant winters in Central American and in early spring flies to eastern North America covering over a thousand miles.
Male Hummingbird on the Wing
photo by William T. McReynolds
The Ruby-throated has a diet of nectar from tubular flowers and small insects including mosquitoes, gnats and flies—caught in midair—as well as spiders and insects in spider webs. Insects make up over 60 percent of its diet and are a vital source of protein.
Mating is a brief affair. That leaves the larger female with the responsibility of rearing the young hummers and the smaller male free to migrate early. Nests are small cups made of thistle or dandelion held together with spider silk. Eggs are pea sized.
Ruby-throated hummers are the only indigenous hummingbirds here on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau. They are quite tolerant of the human presence and hummingbird feeders containing fresh sugar water are important components of their diet. Use one part table sugar dissolved in four parts rainwater or pure water in a clean feeder (no red coloring). Place the feeder where cats cannot pounce on unsuspecting visitors. In hot weather, the nectar will need to be refreshed every few days.
Happy May birding from the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society. Visit us at highlandsaudubonsociety.org for information on membership and all activities.
“And the moon up above
And a thing called love.”
