Well, it’s that time of year again. The count down is on and it’s just a matter of a few precious days to a week or so before we we’ll say good-bye to one of our favorite avian backyard resident—the hummingbirds. Yes, the migration is on for these tiny jewels and it will be another 8 months before we see them again.

Unlike some of the more familiar backyard migrants such as the American Robin, which only migrates as far south as it needs to escape the cold and snow, hummingbirds are neo-topical migratants, which is to say they migrate all the way to the tropics of Central and South America. Even our ducks and geese whimp-out on migration when compared to the hummingbirds.

Right now I am jetting all across this country trying to capture as many images of these amazing tiny birds before they head south. So far I have been to Colorado to photograph three species of hummer and next week I jet off to Arizona for another six or so species. By the time I wrap up the trip nearly all the hummers will be gone from the northern states.

In the eastern half of the country we only have one species of hummingbird. It is the Ruby-throated hummingbird, named so because the male of the species has a large ruby red throat patch called a gorget. However in the western half of the country we have up to 18 species of hummingbird. There are over 300 species of hummers in the world. All of them occur in the New World from Alaska to the tip of South America.

While the Ruby-throated is the only hummer in eastern U.S. the Black-chinned Hummingbird, which is closely related to the Ruby-throat, is the most common species in the western states. The tiny reddish Rufous Hummingbird nests further north than any other species reaching the southern parts of Alaska. This species is also the most hardy of the hummers and is expanding its range all across the U.S. including showing up now and then in the eastern half.

Hummingbirds have so many amazing features. For example, they feed on nectar from flowers which make them important pollinators. They don’t like flowers with nectar concentrations less than 10 percent and prefer flowers with a sugar content of greater than 25 percent. Nectar is a great source of quick energy but a very poor source of nutrients so hummers get their protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals from feeding on insects. Most of these insects are caught on the wing or gleaned from leaves and flowers while still flying. Since their bills are so small, most of the insects they catch are tiny soft bodied gnats.

During flight hummingbirds can beat their wings up to 25-50 beats per second. The smaller the hummingbird species the faster they flap. All this wing activity creates a humming noise which is how they got their name. Some species can flap up to 100 beats per second during specialized courtship flights.

Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of all animals and birds. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,250 beats per minute. All of this activity is powered by the food they eat. They consume more than their own body weight in nectar each day. To do this they are constantly searching for new flowers. They need to visit hundreds of flowers each day to meet their daily nectar requirements. They are unable to store enough fat for long term survival as a result all hummers are just hours away from death each day and night.

At this time of year during the migration there is the added challenge of finding enough food along with traveling great distances. This is why hummingbirds migrate during the night and feed during the day. If the weather and winds are just right at sunset they strike out for a full night of flying. Using the stars and major land forms such as rivers to navigate they make their way southward. Come sunrise they fly down and start the laborious process of finding enough nectar and insects to get them through the day.

This is why it’s important to keep your hummingbird feeders up and full at this time of year. You may just save the life of one of our most amazing birds. Until next time…