Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
Sound (208 KB)
DESCRIPTION:
Size:
3.75 inches (10 cm)
Abundance:
• Common
Quick Identification:
• Male: iridescent red throat and black chin
• Green upperparts, whitish underparts
• Greenish flanks
• Female: throat and underparts whitish, green above
Identification Tips:
• Small hummingbird
• Long, straight, thin bill
Adult male:
• Bright green back and crown
• Entirely dark tail
• White underparts with greenish flanks
• Iridescent scarlet gorget
• Black face and chin
Female/Immatures:
• Green back and crown
• White chin and throat with variable amounts of thin dark streaking
• White underparts
• Dark tail with white tips on outer tail feathers
Similar species:
• No other hummingbirds occur regularly over much of its range, but there is some overlap
in the southeast and Texas. The Broad-billed Hummingbird is similar to the male
Ruby-throated, but has a rosy-red throat rather than a scarlet or ruby throat patch. Male
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can also be identified by their black face and chin, and their
distinctive call notes, and the lack of a wing whistle produced by their wings in flight.
Females are similar to a number of other female hummingbirds, and are best told from the
Calliope Hummingbird and species in the genus Selasphorus by their lack of rufous on the
flanks and in the tail. Anna's Hummingbirds are larger and have grayer chests, while
Costa's Hummingbirds differ only in subtleties of facial pattern and tail pattern.
Black-chinned Hummingbird females are essentially identical, and are not safely separable
from female Ruby-throateds except in the hand. Best told from all species except
Black-chinned Hummingbird by call.
HABITAT:
Common in the east in gardens with flowers, woodland edges, orchards, suburban areas with
hummingbird feeders, parks. Only hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi
River. Attracted to the color red. (Do NOT color the sugar water fed to hummingbirds, just
have part of hummingbird feeder colored red.)
NESTING & FEEDING:
BREEDING: Deciduous or mixed woodland, open areas with scattered trees, gardens, parks. 2,
occasionally 3 broods. Mating system is believed to be promiscuous.
DISPLAYS: Male swings pendulum-like before female, rising 8 to 10 feet above and 5 to 6
feet to each side of her. Preceding copulation, male and female face each other,
alternately ascend about 10 feet and descend, eventually dropping to ground and
copulating.
NEST: On small, downward-inclined deciduous, occasionally coniferous limb, often near or
over stream; 10-20 feet above the ground, of bud scales, lichen on exterior, bound with
spider's silk, lined with plant down. Old nests occasionally occupied several seasons,
refurbished annually. Female builds nest.
EGGS: Two white, unmarked. 0.5" (13 mm).
CHICK DEVELOPMENT: Female incubates. Incubation takes 11-14? days. Development is
altricial (immobile, downless, eyes closed, fed). Young leave the nest after 14-28 days.
Female tends young.
DIET: Includes spiders; also takes tree sap from woodpecker drilling.
CONSERVATION: Winters s through n c Mexico to c Costa Rica. Blue List 1978-86; widely
reported to be declining.
NOTES: Sexes apparently migrate separately; males first to arrive and to depart. Northern
distribution may depend on availability of tree sap provided by sapsuckers' drilling.
During hovering, wings beat 55 times/second, 61/second when moving backward, and at least
75/second when moving forward.
WORLD RANGE:
Archilochus colubris RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. Woodland, second growth, towns,
meadows. From c Alberta (locally), c Saskatchewan and s Manitoba e across s Canada to New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and s to sc,se Alberta, s Saskatchewan,
ne Montana, s Manitoba, the e Dakotas, e Nebraska, e Kansas, wc Oklahoma to ec Texas s to
s Texas and e along the Gulf coast to s Florida.
