The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a tiny, highly migratory bird of prey (insectivore) and nectar-feeder. It is the only hummingbird species that breeds regularly in the eastern United States and Canada. Weighing less than a nickel, this remarkable member of the Trochilidae family is celebrated for its hovering flight, aggressive territorial behavior, and extreme long-distance migration across the Gulf of Mexico.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Quick Facts
| Common Name | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Scientific Name | Archilochus colubris |
| Size & Length | 2.8 to 3.5 inches |
| Wingspan | 3.1 to 4.3 inches |
| Weight | 0.11 to 0.21 ounces |
| US Range | Breeding across the Eastern and Central US; migratory statewide |
| Migration | Neotropical migrant (Winters in Central America) |
| Conservation Status | Stable / Lowest Concern |
How to Identify Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a very small bird with a slender, slightly down-curved bill that is ideally suited for probing deep into tubular flowers.
Plumage and Coloration
The sexes are dimorphic, meaning males and females display distinctly different physical traits.
- Adult Males: Feature a metallic, iridescent emerald-green back, crown, and wings. Their most defining feature is a brilliant, iridescent ruby-red throat patch, known as a gorget. This patch can appear velvet-black or dull dark green depending on the angle of the light. The breast is a clean white, and the tail is deeply notched and dark.
- Adult Females: Share the same emerald-green back as the male, but possess a completely unmarked, clean white throat and breast. Their tail is rounded rather than notched, and the outer feathers are prominently tipped with clean white spots.
- Juveniles: Closely resemble adult females, though young males will begin developing vertical rows of dark throat spots or a few glittering red feathers by late summer.
Habitat and Massive Migration Route
During the spring and summer breeding seasons, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds inhabit deciduous and mixed pine forests, forest edges, orchards, old fields, and heavily landscaped suburban backyards.
The Gulf of Mexico Non-Stop Crossing
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are solitary long-distance neotropical migrants. In late summer and early autumn, they depart their US breeding grounds for wintering sites in southern Mexico and Central America.
To prepare for this journey, they undergo hyperphagia—a period of intense feeding where they double their body mass, storing fat to use as fuel. Many individuals fly up to 20 continuous, non-stop hours straight across the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of roughly 500 miles over open water without food, water, or a place to land.
Diet, Metabolism, and Foraging
Hummingbirds possess the highest metabolic rate of any warm-blooded animal on Earth, excluding shrews. Their hearts beat up to 1,200 times per minute, and their wings flap at a staggering 50 to 80 beats per second. To maintain this engine, they must consume their own body weight in food every single day.
Nectar and Pollination
Roughly half of their diet comes from sugar-rich floral nectar. They use a specialized, rapid licking motion—up to 20 times per second—with a long, tubular tongue that acts like a pump to draw nectar out of flowers. They are highly attracted to bright red and orange tubular flowers, acting as primary pollinators for many native US plants.
The Hidden Protein Requirement
A common misconception is that hummingbirds survive entirely on sugar water. In reality, they are avid hunters. They consume massive quantities of small insects and arthropods, including fruit flies, gnats, mosquitoes, aphids, and spiders. They catch insects out of mid-air (hawking) or pluck them directly from spider webs (gleaning). Insects provide the essential protein, fats, and amino acids required for survival and feather growth.
How to Attract Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds to Your Yard
Because of their high energetic demands, hummingbirds track reliable backyard food sources closely. You can transform your yard into a regular migration stop by providing targeted food and habitat resources.
1. Hang Specialized Nectar Feeders
- Feeder Types: Use saucer or bottle-style feeders featuring red feeding ports. Avoid feeders with yellow plastic components, as yellow naturally attracts wood wasps and yellowjackets.
- The Homemade Recipe: Fill feeders with a 4:1 water-to-sugar solution. Boil 4 cups of water, stir in 1 cup of plain white granulated table sugar until dissolved, and let it cool.
- Critical Safety: Never add red food dye to the mixture, as chemical colorants can cause fatal kidney tumors in hummingbirds. Never use honey, brown sugar, or artificial sweeteners, which cause rapid fungal infections or starvation.
- Maintenance: Change the nectar and scrub the feeder every 2 to 3 days in hot weather to prevent toxic black mold growth.
2. Plant Native Tubular Flowers
The most effective way to sustain hummingbirds is by planting a continuous bloom of native nectar-producing flora.
- Top Perennials: Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans), Bee Balm (Monarda), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and Columbine (Aquila).
- Top Annuals: Salvia, Fuchsia, and Petunias.
3. Create a Water Misting Station
Hummingbirds cannot safely use a standard deep birdbath. They prefer bathing in flight. Set up a commercial bird mister attached to a garden hose, or position a solar fountain so it sprays a fine, airborne mist onto the leaves of a nearby broad-leafed shrub. The hummingbirds will fly through the mist or rub their feathers against wet leaves to clean themselves.
Fascinating Behaviors
Extreme Aggression
Despite their size, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are intensely aggressive and solitary. They do not form pairs or flocks. A single male will select a choice feeder or patch of flowers and fiercely defend it, diving vertically at intruders, flashing his red gorget, and making high-pitched, chittering vocalizations to drive away rival hummingbirds, large bees, and butterflies.
Entering Torpor
To survive cold nights or periods of low food availability without starving, hummingbirds can enter torpor—a state of deep, temporary hibernation. During torpor, they drop their body temperature from a normal 104°F down to near-ambient levels (~50°F) and slow their heart rate down to just 50 beats per minute, conserving up to 60% of their energy. When they wake up in the morning, it takes about 20 minutes of intense shivering to warm their bodies back up to functional flight temperatures.