The Fall migration has begun!

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

This past Wednesday we had our 1st Ruby-throated pass through and the 2nd one has been here all afternoon in our gardens...both juvie males.

It's time for us to put up the feeders!

We put them up in the Spring from late April til early June and usually put them back up for the Fall migration late July and keep them up til about the 3rd week of October..

Welp, they have started early this year! We have been documenting since the Fall of 2007 for both Spring & Summer migration periods and the 2 earliest dates we have is a Roufus 7/17/2013 and 7/28/2010 for a Ruby-throated...both juvie males. So, this is a new record for us...Wednesday was the earliest we had a RT Hummingbird for a Fall migration - 7/14/2021...2 weeks earlier!

For those that don't know, males start migrating before the females.

And for those wondering how we know they are migrating...

We don't have them around during the breeding season here in Lincoln, NE. We are about 60 miles too far west from the breeding range. The closest they breed from us is around the Omaha/Missouri River.

And for those that may be thinking it could be the same hummingbird we have now that we had on Wednesday, the answer is no it is not the same hummingbird.

They all have their own distinctive markings and even behaviors. With juvie males, they make it extremely easy with their bright red gorget feathers growing in differently. Unless one has a great zoom camera and or binoculars, one would even think that they are females. Here are 3 examples...

The next couple of species that we'll start seeing are the Orioles and Nighthawks...around the 1st week of August...

PA Mom-mom · ‎05-27-2015

@Susan Louise This is fascinating! It's so neat that you have been tracking them for so long. In re the early migration, I wonder what they know that we don't know. It looks like the last early migration for an RT was 2010. I don't know about you, but we had a severe winter with lots of snow that year. Does this bode lots of snow for this year???

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@PA Mom-mom wrote:
@Susan Louise This is fascinating! It's so neat that you have been tracking them for so long. In re the early migration, I wonder what they know that we don't know. It looks like the last early migration for an RT was 2010. I don't know about you, but we had a severe winter with lots of snow that year. Does this bode lots of snow for this year???

@PA Mom-mom Weather is a huge factor, but your severe weather with lots of snow last winter wouldn't effect the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They migrate to Mexico & Central America for the winter.

One example would be for many species to start their migration with a strong warm front either in the Spring or a strong cold front in Early Fall. Most times it is their internal clocks and the changing of the daylight hours too.

Another tidbit of info for you...not all Hummingbird species that come to or are in the US migrate. There are several species along the west coast and not all of them migrate. Thr Roufus does and we will have a rogue one visit us during the Fall migration...a rare treat. Usually that is due to a strong cold front/weather issue, and/or the bird's internal GPS is a bit off...LOL. That happens with most species of birds when a rare sighting is recorded in an area it normally isn't seen.

I just added info & pics to my OP in case you missed them

MoJoV · ‎10-01-2010

Love your post and pictures!! Our little jewels usually arrive around Mother's Day here in the Chicago area. They're here all summer. They are such fun to watch. Some are darker than others, some bigger. All Ruby Throats of course. They keep me hopping cleaning and filling the feeder.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@MoJoV wrote:
Love your post and pictures!! Our little jewels usually arrive around Mother's Day here in the Chicago area. They're here all summer. They are such fun to watch. Some are darker than others, some bigger. All Ruby Throats of course. They keep me hopping cleaning and filling the feeder.

@MoJoV Thank you!

You are blessed to enjoy them during the breeding season/Summer. The 'darker ones' are the mature males or juvie males from the 1st brood with a lot of their gorget feathers grown in.

Mary Bailey · ‎03-09-2010

NO!!!!!! I'm not ready to let them go! I'm SW suburban Chicago.

Still a lot here. I'll miss them terribly

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

I am in the breeding range for the Ruby Throated hummingbird although I don't often see them. The only place I have to put my feeder isn't easily visible. I don't know who goes first, but in the fall, it's the males that fight over the feeder. That's when I see them since they are constantly fighting over the feeder and I can hear their twittering. I keep the feeders up through the end of October.

Susan Louise · ‎03-14-2010

@Icegoddess wrote:
I am in the breeding range for the Ruby Throated hummingbird although I don't often see them. The only place I have to put my feeder isn't easily visible. I don't know who goes first, but in the fall, it's the males that fight over the feeder. That's when I see them since they are constantly fighting over the feeder and I can hear their twittering. I keep the feeders up through the end of October.

@Icegoddess Both the juvie and mature males always start migrating before the females. Usually we don't start seeing a female RT Hummingbirds before the 1st week of September. The main reason for this is they are still taking care of the babies from their 2nd brood. With hummingbirds in general, the males have nothing to do with nesting obligations or helping with the feeding.

Mature males will have all migrated through by mid September at the very latest, and we have had females and juvie males from 1st and/or 2nd broods up through mid October.

Both males and females will fight and become territorial at the feeders.

Lilysmom1 · ‎11-08-2020

@Susan Louise , thanks for sharing your information. I am in Nova Scotia. My hummers arrived a week early this year, May 7th. They usually come like clockwork...May 14th. They leave September 14. I record their arrival and departure each year too. LM

PS, great photos!