I’ve seen several hummingbirds visit my flowers and nectar feeders over the last several weeks. I assume at least one pair must’ve nested in the neighborhood this summer. They are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds—the only species that nests in Wisconsin.
The birds move so fast that if you aren’t sitting at a window for any length of time you may never know they are showing up in your backyard.
Usually every summer I see one or two female birds (and I assume because of how territorial hummingbirds are that it’s probably a female and her offspring). But on Sunday a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird landed on the finial that covers my feeder pole. He sat still for about 10 minutes.
The female has a white throat, so I knew this was a male even though his throat looked dark brown, not ruby.
His sitting spot was on the very edge of my camera’s zoom range, so I decided to sneak outside and see if he’d sit still for a closer photo. I did manage to capture some color on his throat in this image before he decided the stranger sneaking up on him couldn’t be trusted!
He’s probably fattening up for migration. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t stick around long. Pairs are together long enough for courtship and mating – just a matter of days to weeks. Then he’s off on his own, and may begin migration by early August.”
Most hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America. Many fly to the Gulf Coast and rest and feed for one last time before flying non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico.