Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The Journey

Imagine you are a winged, feathered creature, just 3 inches long, weighing in at 0.1 to 0.2 ounces. Imagine too that you spend the summer months in Canada and other parts of eastern North America, and you spend the winter months from southern Mexico southward across Central America to Panama. That’s what Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) do every year. Traveling Hummingbirds flying back and forth alone.

They have no maps or GPS help. They somehow know where they are going and manage to rejoin other Ruby-throated Hummingbirds after a trip of 1,000 to 1,600 miles. And if the Hummingbird should choose to cross the Gulf of Mexico (some do, some don’t) they fly that 500 miles over 18 to 24 hours (weather dependent) non-stop.

Incredible. Just thinking about it makes me feel very worn out. I think I’ll sit down.

All Set for Hummingbirds

A feeder went up today in anticipation of the arrival of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris). I’m hoping the first Hummingbird will be here very soon. They’re such a joy to have around. Here you see a female. Those tiny white tips on her tail indicate a female and not a juvenile male. A juvenile male would have a white throat like you see here, and slightly speckled like this or even more speckling, but no white on his tail. She’s enjoying Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma) nectar. That’s a perfect plant for Hummingbirds.

Apple Blossoms

Apple blossoms. What a fragrant delight. And they bring in a host of visitors that provide great entertainment just to sit and watch. It’s been really breezy today. Petals have been flying like snow. Apple blossom season won’t last much longer.

Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) are one of the many species of butterflies that make the apple tree seem alive with action. Both nectar and pollen lure the insects in.

Another of the insects that answer the apple blossoms call are moths. This one, a Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis).

Birds get the call too. This is a female or juvenile Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) that uses the branches of the apple tree as a resting spot. In this image it’s sitting on a grapevine with the apple blossoms in the background. I’m wondering, if I’ll find a hummingbird nest in the apple tree if I search carefully.

This a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). What a surprise I had to see these birds eating the blossom petals. Amazing to find that they enjoy eating the petals.

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is making sap wells in the apple tree’s bark. This enables them to consume both the sap that collects and insects that are also attracted. The sap wells are the very small round holes in the bark. If you look closely you can see claw marks from bears climbing the tree.

After the blooms come the apples and the bears. I guess this critter thinks that the apples are his to be taken. This is a yearly tradition. I sure appreciate the bear coming by for a photo op.

2021 Hummingbird Arrival

Today it happened! A favorite day of the year when the first hummingbird arrives. As is the custom of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) the male leaves first, from his winter home, to arrive here at my cabin in the wood, mid-April. Females will arrive a week to ten days later. I’m looking forward to their arrivals when mating can begin and nest building will get underway. It is the female that selects the site, gathers all her building materials and creates her nest. And she may have two broods during the season, sometimes reusing her first nest. I’ll be searching in all the trees in the area. Looking for the tiny nests. Try as I might I’ve not spotted one yet.

Generally two eggs are laid in the nest. Incubation and feeding of the nestlings is left entirely to the female. It takes between fifteen and eighteen days for the eggs to hatch. Mom feeds her nestlings small insects and nectar. Nestlings fledge in eighteen to twenty-eight days. Then – will the feeders ever be busy!

I’m looking forward to seeing the hijinks of all the hummingbirds. The best action takes place when there are oodles of them. I’m never able to get a count of the hummingbirds that are here but have counted easily fifteen at any one time at the feeders. Surely there are others off in the gardens enjoying the plants that I have specifically put in for them. So it’s hard to know exactly what the population is during their summer with me. I’ll just leave that number at oodles.

The hummingbirds are so entertaining, racing round and round the cabin, chasing each other. It makes me feel as though I’m riding on a carousel. In addition I can’t wait to see the antics of my family as they enjoy the hummingbirds!

A summer with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Pure glee.