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Birdaday Field Notes

Species profile

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: identification, migration timing, feeders and nesting

The Ruby-throated is eastern North America's only breeding hummingbird, yet by area it has the largest breeding range of any North American hummingbird (Cornell). It arrives in spring, leaves for Central America by early fall, and is the bird almost every eastern sugar-water feeder is hung for. A shorter profile sits on common backyard birds.

Quick facts

Fact Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Scientific name Archilochus colubris, family Trochilidae (Cornell)
Length 2.8–3.5 in (Cornell, Audubon); females slightly larger than males (Audubon)
Weight 0.1–0.2 oz, 2–6 g (Cornell, Audubon)
Wingspan 3.1–4.3 in (Cornell); 3–4.3 in (Audubon)
Wingbeats About 53 per second (Cornell); more than 50 (Audubon)
Population 36 million breeding birds (Partners in Flight, via Cornell; Audubon); rising each year 1966–2019 (Breeding Bird Survey, via Cornell)
Status Low Concern (Cornell); Least Concern (IUCN, via Audubon)
Oldest known A female at least 9 years 2 months old, recaptured and re-released during banding in West Virginia in 2014 (Cornell)

How to identify a Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Cornell describes a small, slender hummingbird with a slightly downcurved bill and short wings that don't reach the tail when it perches.

The extremely short legs can't walk or hop, so it shuffles along a perch (Cornell). Audubon notes the species is best identified by range.

Adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on top of a wooden stake against a plain gray sky, in side view: long straight black bill, dark face, iridescent red throat patch, white chest and green back Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering with wings spread, bill in a red scarlet beebalm flower: whitish throat and underparts, green back, dark tail with white tips
Left: adult male guarding a feeding area from a tomato stake, showing the red throat (Cornell: it can look black in poor light). Right: female at scarlet beebalm, with a whitish throat and white tail tips (Cornell). Both photographed in Kentucky in June 2006, inside the species' eastern breeding range; the male is a Featured picture, the female a Quality and Valued image on Wikimedia Commons.
Photos: Joe Schneid / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Joe Schneid / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ruby-throated Hummingbird field marks: adult male and femaleTwo simplified perched hummingbirds facing left. The adult male on the left has a red throat patch, a black mask and a black forked tail that extends past the wingtips. The female on the right has a whitish throat and a rounded dark tail with white tips on the outer feathers. Numbered markers point to each field mark. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Adult maleFemale
  1. Male throat: iridescent red; can look dark or black in poor light (Cornell).
  2. Male mask: black (Cornell).
  3. Male tail: short, black and forked (Cornell, Audubon).
  4. Wingtips: short wings that don't reach the tail tip on a perched bird (Cornell).
  5. Female throat: whitish, no red (Cornell); dull grayish-white (Audubon).
  6. Female tail: mostly black with white tips on the outer feathers (Cornell).
Drawn for Birdaday Field Notes as generic hummingbird shapes, following Cornell's All About Birds identification page and the Audubon field guide, cited below. Not to scale; colors simplified.

Look-alikes

The USGS Patuxent ID page says no other hummingbirds occur regularly over much of the Ruby-throat's range, with some overlap in the Southeast and Texas. Cornell adds that many Black-chinned Hummingbirds winter along the Gulf Coast.

Species How it differs
Black-chinned Hummingbird (adult male) Same size (Cornell). Black throat with a purple base instead of red (Cornell comparison page)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (female) Wings reach the tail tip or just beyond on a perched bird; the Ruby-throat's tail extends past the wingtips (Cornell comparison page). USGS Patuxent: "not safely separable" from a female Ruby-throat except in the hand; call is the best clue
Rufous Hummingbird (female/immature) Rusty-washed flanks, rusty patches on the green tail, often an orange throat spot (Cornell). Female Ruby-throats lack rufous on flanks and tail (USGS Patuxent)
Anna's Hummingbird (female) Larger, with a grayer chest (USGS Patuxent)

Calls and sounds

Migration timing

Journey North says the northbound migration is spread over about three months, and its maps show where people have reported hummingbirds. Its own caveats: each year is different, and a first sighting is not the same as the arrival of most birds.

When What happens Source
As early as January Wintering birds start moving north Journey North
End of February At the northern coast of the Yucatán Journey North
Late February–early March Landfall on the Gulf Coast Journey North
Spring Males leave the Yucatán first; the first females follow about 10 days later Journey North; Audubon: males move north earlier
Spring, in North America About 20 miles per day, following the earliest blooming flowers Journey North
March 19–24, 2025 First reports posted from South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana; 12 states had first reports by March 26 Journey North, March 2025
April 13–25, 2026 Reports from Biddeford, Maine (April 13), Connecticut, New Hampshire, Michigan, Bemidji, Minnesota (April 23) and Carney in Upper Michigan (April 25); the northernmost areas not yet reached Journey North, April 2026
Early August Males may begin migrating Cornell
End of summer–beginning of fall Southbound; juveniles migrate alone, averaging fewer than 25 miles per day Journey North
Early October One New York reporter: residents usually leave about October 2, migrants keep coming until October 10 Journey North, October 2024

Individual reports in those posts compare with the reporter's own past dates, such as a Connecticut observer's "earliest sighting ever" on April 15, 2026. They are anecdotes, not averages.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration calendarA January to December timeline with seven numbered rows. Red blocks show spring and blue blocks fall; pale blocks are approximate timing and dark blocks dated sighting reports. Spring: birds start north as early as January, reach the Gulf Coast in late February or early March, first reports came from Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Louisiana on March 19 to 24, 2025, and from Maine to Minnesota on April 13 to 25, 2026. Fall: males may start migrating in early August, the southbound movement runs from the end of summer into early fall, and one New York reporter's birds leave by about October 2 to 10. JFMAMJJASOND 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
  • Spring, dated sighting reports
  • Spring, approximate timing
  • Fall, dated sighting report
  • Fall, approximate timing
  1. Start north from wintering areas as early as January; northern Yucatán coast by the end of February (Journey North).
  2. Gulf Coast landfall, late February or early March (Journey North).
  3. First reports from Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Louisiana, March 19–24, 2025 (Journey North).
  4. Reports from Maine, Connecticut, Michigan and Minnesota, April 13–25, 2026 (Journey North).
  5. Males may begin migrating, early August (Cornell).
  6. Southbound at the end of summer and beginning of fall (Journey North).
  7. One New York reporter: residents leave about October 2, migrants until October 10 (Journey North, 2024).
Calendar drawn for Birdaday Field Notes from Journey North's migration guide and news posts and Cornell's All About Birds account, cited below. Pale blocks (1, 2, 5, 6) approximate phrases such as "late February" or "early August"; dark blocks (3, 4, 7) are single-year sighting reports, not averages. Not to scale beyond month boundaries.

Crossing the Gulf: sources compared

Point Journey North USGS Audubon
Distance About 500 miles; the southern Florida–Yucatán route is about 525 More than 500 miles nonstop —
Flight time Risky if longer than 18–22 hours An 18-hour flight —
Route Some cross, others go around along the Texas coast Some individuals cross Some cross, many go around along the Texas coast
Fuel About 3.25 g to over 6 g before crossing; may land at 2.5 g; fat for nearly 600 miles — —
Winter range Mostly southern Mexico to northern Panama — Mexico to Costa Rica or Panama (Cornell: Central America)

The USGS says about one million hummingbirds have been banded, nearly half of them Ruby-throats; hummingbird banders need a permit from the USGS Bird Banding Lab and specialized training. For feeder dates by region, see when to put out hummingbird feeders.

Feeders and food

Nectar comes from red or orange tubular flowers such as trumpet creeper, cardinal flower and bee-balm, plus tree sap; the birds also catch mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies and small spiders (Cornell).

Topic What the sources say
Ratio 1 part sugar to 4 parts water: ¼ cup per cup (Audubon, Cornell); 1:4 with boiling water (FeederWatch)
Cold, rainy spells Up to ⅓ cup sugar per cup of water (Cornell)
Sweetener Table sugar; no honey, which "can promote dangerous fungal growth" (Audubon)
Red dye "Could also prove harmful" (Audubon); "may be harmful" (Cornell); "is harmful" (FeederWatch). Cornell: "absolutely no reason" to add it
Freshness Never more than two or three days; daily in very hot weather (Cornell)
Feeder count Several small feeders hold more birds than one big one (Cornell)
Placement Out of direct sun (Cornell); away from cats and windows (Cornell, Audubon)

Full recipe and cleaning schedule: hummingbird feeder guide; batch sizes: nectar calculator.

Nesting

The female builds on top of a slender, often drooping branch, usually of a deciduous tree. The nest is thistle or dandelion down bound with spider silk, decorated with lichen, about 2 in across and 1 in deep, and takes 6–10 days to build (Cornell). Males leave soon after pairing (Cornell); Audubon says the female alone incubates, and she feeds the young.

Stage Cornell Lab Audubon
Nest height Usually 10–40 ft 5–50 ft, usually 10–20 ft
Clutch 1–3 white eggs, about half a gram each 2 white eggs
Incubation 12–14 days 12–14 days, female only
Nestling period 18–22 days Fledge at about 20–22 days
Broods 1–2 Usually 1–2, sometimes 3

For your Bird-a-Day streak

In eastern North America this is a seasonal bird: save it for the spring weeks when it first shows up, and check flowering gardens and woodland edges in midsummer (Cornell). The chee-dit call counts by ear (challenge guide). Map its months with the species planner.

Ruby-throat checklist

Sources