Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Our resident pair were busy this morning.
This summer I hung a new feeder on the front porch for the visiting
hummingbirds - thankfully no ants have found it. I use only sugar and water
now, a clean batch every few days during the heat, none of that red tinted
commercial stuff.
In summertime we always have a visiting pair, the red-throated one being the
handsome male - of course they're both beautiful!
They're the most difficult birds to photograph due to their speed, but every now
and then I just manage to catch a few shots through the dining room window -
after standing there for what seems eternity, camera at the ready, usually
early morning or late afternoon.
Hundreds of kinds of hummingbirds nest in the American tropics, and more
than a dozen in the western U.S., but east of the Great Plains there is only
the Ruby-throat. Here in the southeast it is fairly common in summer in
open woods and gardens. Hovering in front of a flower, or a feeder, to sip
nectar, it beats its wings more than 50 times per second. Impressive migrants
despite their small size, some Ruby-throats may travel from Canada to Costa Rica.
I love to see these tiny, busy birds in my garden.
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Hi Mary, your humming bird is very similar to our sunbirds. Great photos. Thanks for visiting my blog. Yes, I like to emphasize the health aspect of losing weight. And looking good is an added bonus. Have a great day. Jo
ReplyDeleteAs you know, here in Central Europe we have no native humming birds, so yours seem really very exotic to me, and very beautiful, like flying jewels.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures. Humming birds are so tiny and very frail. I found that if you put a dab of vaseline at the top of the hanger the ants won't pass to the feeder. I do it for mine.
ReplyDeleteI would simply love to have a bird like that in my garden - the nearest we get to it are our humming-bird hawk moths. I remember seeing one for the first time in France about six years ago one summers evening, but now they can be found here. I have had one in the garden this year, but it was too quick for me to photograph it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos Mary. I thought it was the male with the red throat, not the female.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite right Penny, thanks - I hadn't had my coffee that early!!!!!
DeleteGreat photos, they are very hard to photograph! We see some ruby-throats here too, normally they have the red throats with a greenish tint to them. I actually stopped hanging the feeder due to ants!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed you got a photo of him; those little birds are fast! We have one who drinks from our honeysuckle vine. :) We caught it teasing the cat the other day.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos Mary, hummingbirds are fascinating and I hope I might see one in Canada next month. We have only ever seen them once, in 2015 and they were so hard to photograph. I love you bird feeder too xx
ReplyDeleteWonderful hummingbird pictures. I do the same thing at times too. Stand and wait for a picture. Our feeder has been fairly quiet this summer, not sure why. We get a lot of Ana hummingbirds in the winter. I see them fluttering around the garden; so I am guessing there is enough natural flowers for them right now.
ReplyDelete