Female Ruby-throated Hummer

I expect the hummingbirds will disappear soon as I have read the vast majority of them migrate further south in the fall.

Some Ruby-throated hummers spend winters in Florida and along the Gulf coast but most migrate to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.

They fatten themselves up almost doubling their weight in as little as 7-10 days prior to migration. Older males migrate first followed by females and younger males about a week later.

Their guidance system is not known but most gather along the Gulf Coast and then make the trip of more than 500 miles across the Gulf in one non-stop overnight flight.

Doppler radar has shown that in Spring the hummers depart the Yucatan Peninsula at dusk with huge flocks of other birds and arrive the next day along the Gulf coast of the US. We know from banded birds that often the Ruby-throated hummer migration occurs on the exact same day each year.

Amazing!

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) hovers at my window.