Hummingbirds, August 29-30, 2017

ABC Wednesday, Wild Bird Wednesday, and Wednesday Around The World
H is for Hummingbirds

Last week I showed you one of the largest birds here, the Great Blue Heron. Today my post is about our smallest bird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris. (Only the males have red throat feathers).

Prentiss County, Mississippi, USA, August 14, 2017

You can attract Hummingbirds during their Spring migration by planting early-blooming, tubular flowers ( example: Red Buckeye). You can entice them to spend the Summer with you by hanging Hummingbird feeders filled with sugar-water and planting more red or orange flowers.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, female (center), male (right)

Hummingbirds move amazingly fast, can fly in any direction (including straight up and backwards!), and are masters at hovering. Nectar from flowers and sugar-water from Hummingbird feeders are their primary food sources, but they also eat small insects,
(gnats, mosquitoes, etc.), catching them in flight

Prentiss County, Mississippi, USA, August 28, 2017

Do Hummingbirds hum? Well, yes. They communicate with each other by rapid, high-pitched chirping, but as they fly, their extremely fast wingbeats, over 50 per second, produce a distinctive humming sound.

Prentiss County, Mississippi, USA, August 20, 2017

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds come to us at the end of March, raise their babies here during the Summer months, and in September begin their long migration across the Gulf of Mexico to their Winter homes in Mexico and Central America. It is an amazing journey for a bird the size of your thumb!

Have a wonderful day!

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NOTE: Please do not use my photos without my permission.
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