Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Also known as: Ruby Throat
About This Species
The only hummingbird that breeds across most of eastern North America, this tiny bird favours gardens, woodland edges and forest clearings rich in tubular flowers, and readily visits sugar-water feeders. Males display a brilliant iridescent red throat patch that can look black in poor light, and their humming wingbeats and chattering calls often announce them before they are seen. Late spring through summer is peak viewing season, before birds depart on a long migration to Central America.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- A metre or two of distance from a feeder or flower patch is usually enough to watch feeding behaviour without causing a bird to abandon the spot.
- In the United States this species and its nest are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so nests, which are tiny and well camouflaged with lichen, should never be approached or handled.
- Keeping feeders clean and positioned away from reflective windows contributes more to the species' wellbeing than any adjustment to viewing distance.
LCAvesApodiformesTrochilidae
Seasonal Activity
4,441,174 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Trochilidae
Photo
(c) Kent Ross, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kent Ross
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.