Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Ruby-throated hummingbird. Photo: Will Stuart
Photo: Roger Eli Levien/Audubon Photography Awards
Selasphorus platycercus
| Conservation status | Still common and widespread, but surveys indicate declining numbers in recent decades. |
|---|---|
| Family | Hummingbirds |
| Habitat | Mountain meadows and forests. Breeds mostly in mountains, up to over 10,000 feet elevation. Mostly in rather open forest, especially near streams, including pine-oak and pinyon-juniper woods, and associations of spruce, Douglas-fir, and aspen. Migrants occur in all semi-open habitats of mountains and also make stopovers in lowlands. |
At flowers, usually feeds while hovering, extending its bill and long tongue deep into the center of the flower. At feeders, may either hover or perch. When feeding on small insects, may fly out and grab them in midair, or hover to pluck them from foliage. Also sometimes takes spiders or trapped insects from spider webs.
2, rarely 1-3. White. Incubation is by female only, 16-19 days. Young: Female feeds the young. Nest stretches as the young birds grow. Age of young at first flight about 21-26 days.
Female feeds the young. Nest stretches as the young birds grow. Age of young at first flight about 21-26 days.
Mostly nectar and insects. Takes nectar from flowers, favoring red tubular flowers, and will feed on tiny insects as well. Also attracted to sugar-water mixtures in hummingbird feeders.
Male defends territory by perching high, scanning for and then chasing intruders. In courtship display, male repeatedly climbs high in the air (up to 60 feet) and then dives, with a loud wing-trill. Nest site is in a tree, on a near-horizontal twig or branch, typically sheltered from above by an overhanging branch. Usually 4-20 feet above the ground, sometimes higher. Nest (built by female) is a neatly constructed cup of spider and plant down, with the outer edge covered with lichen, moss, bits of bark.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
Feds don’t want to gamble on risky water future—and give new urgency to complete the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan.
Flowers are beginning to bloom, and hummingbirds are starting to return from their southern winter sojourns. Here’s a regional guide for when they should arrive and the food they’re seeking.
By tracking these tiny birds, we can detect important imbalances in the environment.
Two-thirds of North American bird species are at risk of extinction from climate change. Urge Congress to act now.
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