Hummingbirds
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus
colubris
Description
3 1/2" (9 cm). Tiny. Needle-like
bill. Metallic green above, white below; male has brilliant,
iridescent red throat. Immature male lacks red throat. Female green
above, with white throat and breast, buff sides, and white-tipped
outer tail feathers.
Voice
Mouse-like, twittering squeaks.
Habitat
Suburban gardens, parks, and
woodlands.
Nesting
2 white eggs in a woven nest of plant
down held together with spider silk and covered with lichens. Nest
is saddled to the branch of a tree, usually in a forest
clearing.
Range
The only hummingbird that breeds east of
Mississippi River. Breeds from southern Canada to Gulf Coast.
Winters mainly in tropics, rarely on Gulf Coast.
Discussion
These diminutive birds are
particularly attracted to tubular red flowers such as salvia and
trumpet creeper, as well as bee balm, petunia, jewelweed, and
thistle. Hummers are also attracted to artificial feeders-red glass
tubes filled with sweet liquid. With their remarkable powers of
flight, they are the only birds that can fly backward as well as
hover in one spot like insects. They are constantly in motion,
perching on twigs or wires only briefly to rest and to survey their
surroundings, or when they are at the nest. During courtship, the
female sits quietly on a perch while the male displays in a pendulum
dance, swinging in a wide arc and buzzing loudly with each
dip.
Hummingbirds