Wonders of Wildlife: Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Scientific Name: Archilochus colubris

Found in Alabama: Statewide

Diet: Omnivore (eats plants and animals)



 
Monarch Butterfly
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wikimedia - Matt Tillett
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Learn more about...
 
Classification Button
Identification
Adaptations Button
Life Cycle
Habitat Needs
Ecological Role Button
 


 
CLASSIFICATION
 
What type of animal am I?
  • I am a vertebrate (an animal with a spine or backbone).
  • I am warm-blooded, so I can control my body temperature.
  • I have feathers on the outside of my body that keep me warm.
  • I breathe with lungs just like you.
  • I have 2 legs.
  • I have wings.
Scientists use basic traits to group animals into different taxonomic classes.  

For a taxonomic classification chart comparing key traits of common backyard wildlife,
CLICK HERE!
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a BIRD!
 



















 


 
IDENTIFICATION TIPS
   

Size: 
  • Range in length from about 3 - 5 inches
  • Weigh 0.1 - 0.2 ounces
  • Wingspan is 3 - 4 inches
   
 Key 
Characteristics: 
  • Bright emerald green color on their backside
  • Light grey coloration underneath
  • Wings and tail appear black in color 
  • Small and slender build
  • Long, slender, slightly downcurved bill
   
Males Females
  • Bright, iridescent (shiny) red patch on the throat
  • Black mask of feathers on face
  • Lack the red patch on the throat 
  • Grayish brown colored mask of feathers on face
male ruby throated hummingbird
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wikimedia - Joe Schneid, Louisville Kentucky
 Click on image to enlarge it
Female Ruby throated hummingbird
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Sheila Brown
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Young Males Young Females
  • Have some dark spotting or streaks on the throat
  • Cinnamon colored fringing on upper feathers
  • Throat is light in color with no spotting or streaking
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird Juvenile
Wikimedia - Pslawinski
 Click on image to enlarge it		  

   
 

 
ADAPTATIONS
 
PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS
 
  Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are colorful: 
  • Hummingbird feathers are iridescent, meaning they reflect light in a way that makes them appear more colorful and bright than they actually are.
  • Their coloration may vary based on how much light is shining on them or from which angle the light is coming. 
  • Males and females have different coloration on their feathers.
  • Males appear to have a bright red throat when they mature and are old enough to make a family. 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Male and Female
Dreamstime
 Click on image to enlarge it
  • Females do not have a red throat and usually appear more dull in color. This helps them to be more camouflaged (blend in with the surrounding environment) while they sit on the nest to protect and care for young. 
 
  Birds can fly:  
  • Birds have feathers on their wings rather than hair like humans. Feathers are light, waterproof, and are adjustable for flight control.
  • Birds have lightweight beaks instead of heavy jaws and teeth like humans.
  • Most bones in their bodies are hollow or honeycombed, making them very lightweight. Some of their bones are fused for increased efficiency and lighter weight. 
  • Birds have a larger and more efficient respiratory system than humans do since flight is a physically-demanding activity.  
 
  Birds can digest whole food:  
  • Birds do not have teeth and are not able to chew food. Because of this, they have a specialized part of their stomach, called a gizzard, that helps with digestion by grinding food.
  • The small stones, sand, and grit that birds pick up while they are eating are stored in the gizzard.
  • Once food is swallowed and makes its way to the gizzard, it is pulverized by the grit and stomach muscles. 
  • Some birds like chickens, ducks, and turkeys have thick, muscular gizzards. Other birds that eat food items that are easy to digest, such as nectar and soft-bodied insects, have thin-walled gizzards.
 
  Hummingbirds can hover in fight:
  • A hummingbird’s muscles make up over a quarter of the body weight, and their bones are extremely lightweight.
  • The wings connect to the body at only one point, the shoulder joint, allowing them the ability to rotate their wings 180 degrees.
  • Since their shoulders can rotate so far, they can move the tips of their wings in a "figure eight" pattern to lift themselves in the air.
  • As they change the angle of their wings, they can fly in any direction or hover in the air.
  • This unique physical feature allows hummingbirds to fly forward, backward, and to hover in mid-air.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Hovering While
Drinking from Cardinal Flower
Dreamstime
 Click on image to enlarge it
 
  Hummingbirds have long bills and special tongues:
  • The ruby-throated hummingbird is attracted to red and orange tubular shaped flowers and uses its long, slender, down curved bill with an extendable tongue to collect nectar.
  • The shape of and length of the tubular flowers match perfectly with the shape and length of the hummingbird beak.
  • This makes the hummingbird better at pollinating (moving pollen, the powdery yellow substance, from one plant to another which allows the plants to reproduce) certain plants than other animals.
  • The tongue is almost twice as long as the beak and is made of two tubes side by side that split into two when the tongue touches the liquid nectar.
  • Each tube unrolls or opens up, allowing nectar to flow in.
  • As soon as the hummingbird removes its tongue from the nectar, the tubes close, trapping the nectar within them.
  • As the bird removes its tongue, the two tubes join back side by side into the single structure of the tongue. 
  • Watch this video to see exactly how their amazing tongues work!
 
Hummingbird Drinking from Flower
Wikimedia - Dick Daniels
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Hummingbird Tongue
Wikimedia - John Flannery
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Hummingbirds have special feet:
  • Hummingbirds spend a large part of their lives perched on branches and other structures.
  • They use their feet for scratching and perching, not hunting or launching.
  • Because of this, hummingbirds have four 4 toes with 3 three toes in the front and 1 in back.
  • The toe in the back is also called the hallux and works in a similar way that a human's thumb does, allowing the hummingbird to grab onto its perch. 
   


























   
BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS
 
  Hummingbirds are diurnal:
  • They are active during the day (diurnal).
 
  Hummingbirds migrate long distances:
  • Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migratory (move in groups from one location to another). 
  • They spend the winters in Central America, Southern Mexico, and southern portions of Florida before traveling north where they breed in most of the Eastern United States.
  • Many of them will make the flight over the Gulf of Mexico without stopping which requires a great amount of energy from such a small animal.
  • To prepare for the long journey, they double their body mass by consuming extra food before making the flight.
 
   Hummingbirds protect themselves from cold weather:
  • Ruby-throated hummingbirds are very small and must protect themselves against cold weather.
  • They do this by entering a state of torpor (period of inactivity).
  • At night, while hummingbirds rest, their bodies, including their heart rate and other organs, slow down in order to save energy.
 
































  

 
     
Life Cycle Stages of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird
     

Nest: 
  • Females build the nest on top of a slender branch.
  • The thimble sized cup-shaped nest is constructed using thistle, dandelion, milkweed, or ferns and is held in place using spider's silk or pine resin.
  • Outside of the nest is decorated with lichen or moss.  This helps keep the nest camouflaged (blended in with the surroundings).
Female Hummingbird on Nest
Wikimedia - Lorie Shaull
Click on image to enlarge it
     

Eggs: 
  • Females lay 1-3 hard-shelled eggs per brood.
  • Eggs are tiny, white, and are around half of an inch long.
  • They generally have 1-2 broods per year.
     

Young: 
  • Babies hatch from the eggs after 12 - 14 days.
  • When they hatch, they have no feathers other than two lines of soft, grey down feathers on the back of their bodies.
  • They remain in the nest for 18 - 22 days until they have grown in their first set of feathers and can leave the nest.
     

Life Span: 
  • They can live up to 9 years.
  


 


  
HABITAT NEEDS
 
NATURAL Habitat Needs ADULTS YOUNG
Food
  • Hummingbirds feed on nectar from tubular shaped flowers including trumpet flower, cardinal flower, honeysuckle, bee balm, phlox, and other native nectar producers.
  • They may catch insects in midair including mosquitoes, gnats, and fruit flies.
  • While chicks are young, mothers feed by regurgitation (spitting food into the mouths of the young).
  • As the young grow, insects are provided.
  • Young depend on the mother for food for up to 25 days.
Water
  • Necessary hydration is obtained through food sources.
Shelter
  • They live in open areas where flowering plants grow such as grasslands, forest edges, and open woods.
  • The nest built by the parents combined with with the leaf canopy above offers shelter for young.
Places to Raise Young
  • Nests are made in trees such as oak, hornbeam, yellow birch, poplar, hackberry, and pine.
  • Nests are constructed using plants like thistle, dandelion, and milkweed.
  





















 
 
 













 
BACKYARD
Habitat Needs		 ADULTS YOUNG
Food
  • Plant native, tubular, bright, nectar-producing flowers.
  • Provide a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water.
  • Parents feed young with food sources available.
  • Providing food sources for parents will benefit the young.
Water
  • Necessary hydration is obtained through food sources.
Shelter
  • Plant flowering plants, shrubs, and trees.
  • The nest built by the parents combined with with the leaf canopy above offers shelter for young.
  • Providing nesting resources for the parents will help the young.
Places to Raise Young
  • Plant ferns, milkweed, thistle, and other non-woody plants that may provide thin materials for hummingbirds to use in constructing the nest as well as shrubs and trees for nest sites.
  


 

































  
 

  
ECOLOGICAL ROLE
   
Animals play an important ecological role in the health of habitats and ecosystems.
   

Food Source: 
  • Adult ruby-throated hummingbirds may be eaten by such as Cooper’s hawks and loggerhead shrikes.
  • Nestlings may be eaten by smaller songbirds such as blue jays. 
Predation by cats is the number one direct, human-caused threats to birds in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., as many as 2.4 billion birds are killed by cats each year. To read more about this, CLICK HERE!
   

Pollinator: 
  • With nectar being one of the main sources of nutrition for the ruby-throated hummingbird, these birds act as pollinators (animals that transfer pollen, the powdery yellow substance, from one flower to another) while visiting and traveling among flowers.

 
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