Ruby-Throated Hummingbbird

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

 The Ruby-Throated Humming bird or the Archilochus colubris is a  eastern North America’s sole breeding hummingbird. These tiny, precision-flying creatures glitter like jewels in the full sun, then vanish with a zip toward the next nectar source. Feeders and flower gardens are great ways to attract these birds, and some people turn their yards into buzzing clouds of hummingbirds each summer. Enjoy them while they’re around; by early fall they’re bound for Central America, with many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are eastern North America’s only breeding hummingbird. To accomplish this, individuals often double their body mass by fattening on nectar and insects prior to departure. The proportion of this species' population that uses trans-Gulf versus circum-Gulf routes is largely unknown, as is regional connectivity in migration routes and overwintering areas.