When a female enters the male’s territory, he performs an elaborate courtship display that includes diving down from a height of 50 feet above the female in a U-shaped flight pattern. ![]() Males will aggressively defend their territories from other hummingbirds and avian species, as well as bees and wasps. Males typically return 7–10 days before females to establish breeding territories. Hummingbirds are solitary except during the breeding season, which begins in early May after individuals have returned from their southern wintering sites. Individuals leave their wintering grounds in early spring and arrive in New Jersey in mid-April to stake out territories and begin a new breeding season.įigure 2: A female ruby-throated hummingbird feeding her young. During the winter months, ruby-throated hummingbirds remain solitary and seek reliable food sources of nectar and insects in tropical deciduous and dry forests, second growth scrub, pastures, and edge habitat. If you do see a hummingbird visit your feeder in winter, it is probably a vagrant western species such as the rufous hummingbird ( Selasphorus rufus).Īlthough small, ruby-throated hummingbirds are powerful flyers and capable of crossing 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico in a single non-stop flight lasting 20 hours. Leaving artificial nectar feeders outside will not cause ruby-throated hummingbirds to stay throughout the winter in New Jersey. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are early migratory birds, leaving the breeding grounds in late July through early September to overwinter in Florida and Central America. The primary factor determining habitat suitability is the presence of sufficient tubular flowers to provide adequate foraging resources for survival and reproductive success. They can be found in old fields, forest edges, meadows, and stream borders across eastern North America during the summer breeding months and they can be quite common in backyards and gardens. Ruby-throated hummingbirds show no stringent habitat preferences. Because they do not need to perch when feeding (although they still can), hummingbirds have evolved very short legs, which makes them even lighter. Their wings, which beat 50–70 times per second, produce a distinctive humming sound and allow hummingbirds to hover in mid-air while drinking nectar from delicate flowers. Hummingbirds do not sing, but rather they will make a variety of sharp chattering or buzzing noises, especially in courtship or during territorial disputes. Both sexes have a shimmery bright green back and crown with a grayish white belly, but only the males boast an iridescent ruby-red throat. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are incredibly small birds, measuring 2.8–3.5 inches long and weighing an average of 2.9–3.8 grams (that’s less than a nickel!). Figure 1: A male ruby-throated hummingbird.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |