June 23, 2026

Here, a Ruby Throated Hummingbird (Archilochusus colubrid) seeming to dance as she approaches a Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma).

These Hummingbirds are here for their breeding season and soon we’ll be seeing a population explosion thanks to all the fledglings that will be arriving at the flowers that seem to call to them. It is the female that does all the work of motherhood, from building the nest (between mid-May and mid-June), to incubating the eggs, to raising the little ones. All on her own.

She will usually lay 2, very tiny white eggs, and here in Virginia, she will most often raise 2 broods (up to 3 broods in warmers parts of the state). She will incubate those eggs for between 12 and 14 days. Then the nestlings will be cared for in the nest for between 18 to 22 days, until they are ready to fledge.

And then BOOM! there will be many many many Hummingbirds flying to my feeders! I can hardly wait!

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