Have you sat on your deck on Carillon Stonegate Pond in the afternoon
and noticed a flash of green and red? Or heard the roar of a “jet” as something
zoomed by your head?
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| Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Carillon Stonegate Pond |
It is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. And what you are seeing are
these birds heading back and forth between food sources – feeders or flowers.
According to All About Birds and the Audubon Society (all of my sources
of information for this blog are listed at the end), Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are “brilliant, tiny, precision-flying
creatures that glitter like jewels in the full sun, then vanish with a zip
toward the next nectar source”.
Enjoy them while they’re around Carillon Stonegate this summer because
by early fall they’re bound for Central America. And they call us “Snowbirds”!
Common Name: Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Scientific Name: Archilochus Colubris
What Do You Look For? The
male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are visually distinct. The adult
male is tiny with long wings and bill. It has a bright red throat, a black mask
and green crown. The adult female is tiny with long wings and bill. She is
mostly white below with buffy flanks. And she has a dusky mask and emerald
green back. The young of both sexes look like the adult female until they molt.
Hummingbirds molt once per year from the fall migration through early Spring.
It is following this first molt, that young males acquire their signature full
ruby throats.
What Is Their Size? The average length of a Ruby-throated
Hummingbird is 3 – 4 inches. They weigh in at 1/8 of an ounce. Their wings beat
approximately 52 times per second (not minute)! They have a resting heart rate
of 250 beats per minute which rises to 1,200 when they are feeding. They fly
between 30 – 50 miles per hour. In the wild, they may live 5 or more years.
Where
Do They Reside? Ruby-throated hummingbirds reside across North America, Mexico
and Central America. They live in woodland areas, but also frequent gardens
where flowering plants are plentiful. Around Carillon Stonegate, you may find
them in flower beds and the many feeders in our backyards.
What
Are Their Flight Capabilities? Like
all hummingbirds, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are precision flyers. They fly
in an acrobatic style matched by few other birds. They can fly full out and stop in an instant. They
can hover motionless in midair. They can fly upside down, sideways – and
backwards!
How Else Do They Behave? You may notice them darting
between nectar sources with fast, straight flights. Or you may find them sitting
on a small twig in a tree keeping a lookout. Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds aggressively
defend flowers and feeders, leading to spectacular chases and dogfights - and
occasional jabs with the beak. Males court females by making a looping,
U-shaped dive starting from as high as 50 feet above the female. If the female
perches, the male shifts to making fast side-to-side flights while facing her.
What’s For dinner? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed
on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers such as trumpet creeper,
cardinal flower, honeysuckle, jewelweed, bee-balm, red buckeye and red morning
glory as well as at hummingbird feeders. Hummingbirds also catch small insects
in midair or pull them out of spider webs.
Are They Experienced Travelers? Many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds spend
the winter in Mexico and Central America. To get there from here, they embark
on a marathon, non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico. They may double their
weight in preparation for this demanding journey. This flight is over 500 miles
and may take some 20 hours. Some birds may stay in North America along the Gulf
Coast, parts of the southern Atlantic coast, and at the tip of Florida.
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| Range map from Birds of North America |
Can We Hear Them Now? Male hummingbirds sing a constant series of
monotonous chips just at daybreak. You
may hear an even chee-dit between hummingbirds, especially during chases. And, as the male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
whizzes by you, you should hear the loud, high-pitched humming sound of their
wings.
Interesting Facts About Ruby-throated Hummingbird:
- The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the most common hummingbird in the United States.
- The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird east of the Mississippi River.
- Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backward and hover in one spot.
- The Ruby-throated Hummingbird beats its wings about 52 times a second.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbirds prefer to feed on red or orange flowers and have good color vision.
- Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t stick around long - enough for courtship and mating (just a matter of days to weeks) and then he’s off on his own.
- The hummingbird is as efficient a pollinator as a honey bee – collecting pollen on its feathers and bill before jetting off to another flower.
- The oldest hummingbird fossil is estimated to be from 30 million years ago!
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| Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Carillon Stonegate Pond |
For more information on Ruby-throated Hummingbird and sources of information used in this blog (these are the sources that I am using to learn as I blog), please visit All About Birds and Audubon Society. In addition, I sourced information from Hummingbirds.net, the U.S. Forest Service, National Geographic, ABCBirds.org and the National Wildlife Fund. And the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a wonderful source of information for anyone interested in learning more about birds.
The Carillon at Stonegate community is very fortunate to have a variety
of wetland, forest and prairie environments conducive to a variety of birds and
other wildlife. Our community and the Kane County Forest Preserve does an
exceptional job in maintaining this natural environment – both for the benefit
of the birds and wildlife and for our residents to enjoy. Take a hike and see
what you can find – and identify!
And please come back to our blog – “Life on Carillon Stonegate
Pond” to learn more about the birds and wildlife the either live or visit this
wonderful habitat. As I learn, I share with you.
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