Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Class: Aves

        Order: Apodiformes

                Family: Trochilidae

                        Subfamily: Trochilinae

                                Genus: Archilochus

                                        Species: colubris
 
 

The following can be used to distinguish Ruby-throats from other hummingbirds, as taken from (5)
 
Adult males:
        - emerald green back
        - iridescent ruby red gorget that may appear black under some lighting conditions
        - gray flanks
        - forked tail with no white tips -- all black
        - smaller than the females
 
Adult females:
        - emerald green back
        - white breast and throat
        - rounded tail with white tips
        - larger than male with a longer bill
 
Juveniles:
        - young or both sexes look like adult female
        - In August and September, the young males develop red spots in gorget

Molts:
        - one complete molt per year
        - young males acquire full ruby gorget during their first molts
 
 

• Ruby-throats weigh about 3 grams -- about 1/10 the weight of a first-class letter (Stokes, 1989)
• They have an average length of about 3.5 inches (4)
• Habitat of Ruby-throats are in gardens and deciduous forests (Tyrrell, 1985)
• They migrate northward from late February to mid-May and then southward from late July to late October (Stokes, 1989)
• They breed throughout eastern to midwestern North America, from the south of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico (4)
• They spend the winter months in Mexico (True, 1993)
• Ruby-throated flies about 27 miles/hour with no tail wind or head wind (1)
• Ruby-throats are known for making a non-stop crossing of the Gulf, taking approximately 18 to 20 hours (4)
• They are not backyard nesters - they require an isolated environment for breeding (True, 1993)
• They have a close relationship with sapsuckers and their associated drilling behavior at various sap-producing trees (Johnsgard, 1997)
• Important spring foods include Aesculus pavia, Ribes odoratum, and Aquilegia canadensis (Johnsgard, 1997)

 

* Location
 

AREA	STATUS	REFERENCES
North America:  Continental United States; Canada	Yes	True, 1993
Eastern North America:  United States east of Mississippi;  Ontario and eastern Canada	Yes	True, 1993
Southeastern United States:  AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Yes	True, 1993
Southern Appalachian States:  AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV	Yes	True, 1993
Coastal Plain	Yes	True, 1993
Piedmont	Yes	True, 1993
Blue Ridge Mountains	Yes	True, 1993
Great Smoky Mountains National Park	Yes	True, 1993
Ridge and Valley	?
Cumberland Plateau	?
Central Arch	?
Georgia	Yes	True, 1993
Clarke County, Georgia	Yes	Joy Bickley, Pers. Ob.
Sams Farm	?	-
Old Field	?	-
Wetland	?	-
Woods	?	-
1-Hectare Plot	?	-