The hummingbird’s agility in flight lets it flit from the flower to flower like an insect. Although it tends to feed from red flowers at least thirty-one different plants have flowers which attract the ruby-throated hummingbird. They include honeysuckle, petunias, nasturtiums, and lilacs. Flying from the flower, the hummingbird pollinates the plants it feeds on. Because it can hover for long periods of time, the hummingbird can effectively suck out all the nectar it needs from a flower with its long, fine bill. Although nectar is its main food providing essential high-energy sugars, hummingbirds will also eat some insects and spiders. The hummingbird is not attracted to regular bird feeders, but it will feed on red-colored sugarwater offered from a drip tube.

Like many migrating birds, the male ruby-throated hummingbird arrives at the breeding area before the female. There, he establishes this territory. When the female appears, the male makes a courtship gesture by flying back and forth in a perfect arc. Two eggs are laid sometime between March and July in a nest situated high up in a tree. The female makes the nest with lichen and other soft plants. She incubates the eggs for 16 days until they hatch, and then feeds the young on nectar and small insects. The male takes no part in the raising of the young and may go look for another mate. Young are fledged in three to four weeks, and some birds go on to raise a second brood.

Despite its tiny size, the ruby-throated hummingbird migrates more than 1,850 miles from the eastern United States, crossing 600 miles of the Gulf of Mexico, to spend the winter in Central America. The ruby-throat’s return to its breeding grounds is timed according to location. The birds that live in the southern part of the United States begin their return migration as early as February. The birds that live further north time their return to coincide with the flowering of their food plants.

Return to my homepage

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page