Distinguishing Features – Upper parts, shiny green; throat, bright red; breast and mid-abdomen, greyish white; sides breyish brown with glossy green.
Tail, forked. Female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are similar to males but throats greyish white and their tail is not forked.
- Size – 7.5 – 9.4 cm
- (3 – 3.75 in)
Habitat
Woodland clearings, gardens, and orchards. In understory with flowering plants.
Nesting
Tiny, cup-shaped on a tree branch, made of bud scales, bits of lichen held together with spider silk. Eggs, 2; white. The incubation period is 15 – 17 days.
Notes
The tiniest of boreal forest species, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird gets its name from the bright red throat patch and the characteristic hum of its rapidly beating wings.
They sometimes feed on small insects but prefer the nectar of flowering plants or sugar water from backyard feeders.
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