Tag Archives: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher In The Garden

June 22, 2026

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) showing off the length of its extra long tail.

Impressed by the small size of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)? Perhaps the size of this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher will surprise you as well.

Their weights are quite similar, weighing in at a bit lighter than a few pennies. The Gnatcatcher is about an inch longer than the Hummer, but you have to consider its extremely long tail. That tail is about 2 inches in length and the bird’s body length is 4 to 4.5 inches. That is nearly one half of its total length.

The Gnatcatcher’s wingspan at 6.3 inches, is almost 50 percent wider than the Hummingibrd’s 3.1 to 4.3 inches.

All in all, both mighty little birds.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

And They’re OFF!

September 10, 2025

A juvenile male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) sipping nectar from Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma), with rich emerald green Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) in the background.

During the second week of August, the last of the hummingbird nestlings fledged. Since that time I’ve been putting out two quarts of hummingbird syrup daily without fail. That won’t happen today. Not even one quart has been consumed. That’s the signal. My clowns of summer have packed their tiny suitcases and are now on their way to their wintering grounds, southern Mexico, across Central America and Panama.

They’re gone, but there will be many others migrating through. I’ll keep watch as they come to my feeder until I don’t see any stragglers coming through. Two weeks and I don’t see any more and the feeder will be put away till next spring.

I’ll be so delighted to see them again.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!

The First One!

April 9, 2025

During dinner this evening I saw something fly past the window, looking in as it went by. It made a sudden change of direction which said to me, “Hummingbird!” But I wasn’t able to focus on it, so I was uncertain. A few minutes later it showed up at the feeder that I had put out just three days ago.

Sure enough it was a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). I wonder where he spent his winter. Did he go as far south as Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or Panama? Did he go straight over the Gulf of Mexico or did he fly along the Gulf Coast?

If he doesn’t continue further north, but decides to stay here during the summer, we’re going to have to have a chat about his travels.

_______________________

If you would like to receive my daily blog posts by email, sign up here!