The Departure of the Ruby-throats

September 15, 2010

There are a lot of beautiful birds at Protection Farm and some of the most fun to associate with are the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They have tremendously large personalities, and ever since Lucky came to our farm, they always seem to relate to the humans here in a sincere, deliberate, energetic,  and friendly way. They arrive after a long migration on or about Memorial Day and they depart in mid September. This year, right on cue, they departed on September 15 after a plentiful summer and an extraordinarily memorable last couple of days.


Ruby-throats are the only hummingbirds, except for the occasional rare stray, in this part of North America. They are the only hummingbirds that breed east of the Mississippi except in the far south. they are tiny bundles of energy that partake in an almost unbelievable migration twice each year. Ours travel to and from Protection Farm and may go as far as Costa Rica. Each time, they make a non stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico.  They are tiny, weighing at most about 3 grams, or less then an ounce.

The males are distinguished by their brilliant red ruby colored throats that flash in the sun.  While they are determined individualists, they have a complex and excited social life.  This year at Protection Farm we had 6 adults, 2 male and 4 female. We did not see that there were any young hatched here, but it is possible that we just weren’t observant enough. Hummingbirds can live up to 12 years. I wonder if any of our hummingbirds are actually the same "Lucky" the individual that we rescued a couple of years ago. (See Lucky the Hummingbird elsewhere on this blog).

http://protectionfarmjournal.blogspot.com/2010/09/story-of-lucky-hummingbird.html

Maybe at least we had some of the same birds from last year. I have been told that each year, the last years walnut sized nest is used. I assume at least sometimes it is by the same individual female.

They are conspicuous by their activities and their vocalizations. They emit a high frequency chirping sound which gets more excited when they encounter other hummingbirds, larger insects, and, well, me. They are highly territorial and spend a lot of time chasing each other. They are aggressive toward bees, especially as the bees try to gather feeder juice.  Ruby-throats drink nectar and it is easy to plant for them. 

We  have a number of feeders. Our front yard garden was planted with these birds in mind.  Jajean spent a lot of time building this garden with for these special birds and and butterflies and other insects that we want to attract and create a healthy food source and habitat for.  We have 5 hummingbird feeder stations, including one in the back, with the rest in the front yard garden. It has been common to have all six birds interacting at the same time. They also feed on insects and occassionally we get to watch them plucking them off leaves, or chasing them in the air.

We had incredible and interesting interactions with these birds every day.  Many, if not all of the individuals recognize us, generally speaking, and seem to want to be around us.  They know that we fill the feeders with sugar water.  Often I would stand in the garden, and one would fly right up to my face, checking me out. It would look directly at me, inches from my face and slip side to side, up and down really getting a good look at me.  Sometimes it would chirp, land next to me. Sometimes, if I made a sudden move, it would fly off. Sometimes I would talk, make sounds, utter some gentle noise, or try to imitate its chirping, and often the little birds, like many birds at Protection Farm, would look at me, cock its head, as if trying to understand what the heck I was saying.

One early August day as Jonna and I came back to the farm in the early evening, I noticed a hummingbird sitting very still on one of the feeders.  I went inside and after a few minutes, noticed that it was still sitting on the feeder. I went out to the porch and looked at it more closely.  It was just sitting there, perched, seemingly oblivious to all around it. I knew something was up when another hummingbird landed right next to it. The new bird looked at it, took a drink of nectar, looked at the first bird again, and flew off.  I went down to the feeder and came up from behind and gently put my hand around it. It offered no resistance.  It was warm, and alive, and its eyes were tightly shut. I brought it up to the porch were I gave it to Jonna to hold, and went inside to mix up some sugar nectar.  When I offered it to this bird, it took it reflexively with its tongue eagerly darting in and out of its beak. It reminded me of the episode with Lucky from a few years ago.  

Eventually this little bird regained its composure, opened its eyes, and within half an hour, flew off to the forest edge. Darkness was beginning to settle in and so we were not able to watch what happened with it next. The next morning, early, I went outside and a hummingbird flew right up to me. It seemed to be going right by me on the way to the feeder when it noticed me.  It stopped in mid-air, backed up and came right up to my face. I am talking a foot or less away.  It gave me a good look over, flew from one side of my face to the other. I finally said, "hey little bird", and it flew off back toward the trees.

Hummingbirds are great acrobats. Their flying and social antics are really fun and full of excitement. They chase each other back and forth like little jets, up around, down, through the garden plants, all around the yard, and through the trees. Sometimes two or three would come together and have a loud and raucous exchange which almost always resulted in a chase to the woods by one or the other or all.  These birds also have a very interesting habit which is sometimes thought to be a courtship, but I have also seen two males or two females act this out. One of the birds will swoop back and forth in a widening arch, up and down, back and forth, back and forth. And then the two would fly off sometimes together, sometimes separately.

These tiny birds migrate far to the south, often reaching central or South America.  Ruby-throats are common in Costa Rica in the months of northern winter.  It is remarkable that these tiny birds actually negotiate across the Gulf of Mexico on a single flight.

The last day that they were here, September 15, 2010 started bright and warm. The few days leading up to this sunny day had been cold and rainy days.  I knew the hummers would be off soon, and I must say I was a little anxious.  In the spring I am always anxious in anticipation for their return and that late May week is always a fun one.   On this day, I had not seen the hummers the day before. I had been away most of the day, and when I was here I only looked for them  briefly because it was so cool and rainy and my time outside had been short.  This morning I looked outside and noticed that the main feeder was empty, so I went out to fill it. Immediately a hummer came to my side and watched, floating about 10 feet and then five away as I took the feeder down.  I really enjoy these bird greetings and look forward to them. This one was making quite a racket, and it seemed directed at me.  After a moment, I brought the feeder inside, filled it, and brought it back outside and hung it up. The first thing I noticed this time was that there were a number of yellow jackets near the porch, buzzing about, and on the railing. They immediately went to the feeder and started poking into the feeder openings. I went back inside and sat down at the computer. Within a few minutes I heard a commotion outside. I could see from my window that there were 2 hummers and they were arguing with one another. They were kind of chasing each other, meeting face to face near the feeder, and then chasing some more.  Then they would return one at a time to the feeder. They acted aggressive toward the Yellow Jackets on the feeder.  They kept poking at them and chasing them away from the feeder.  This was usually very effective and they had kept the feeders really clear of bees all summer. Today these birds were extremely agitated, much more than usual. I went out to the porch and they quickly departed. I noticed again that the feeder was covered with yellow jackets. I took it down, shook it off, and brought it into the house for about half an hour. When I brought it back  outside, before I even had a chance to hang it there were three hummers in the immediate vicinity watching me. OK, I get the hint, they are hungry. Two perched in the garden, which was nearly devoid of nectar producing blossoms. The other went right to the feeder and started sipping. I stayed on the porch to watch as one after another the three hummers went to the feeder for long drinks. Then another hummer showed up.  The four were silently sharing the space and seemed almost friendly with one another.  The hummers had probably been without my food for a couple of cold days. Their clock was undoubtedly ticking toward the inevitable departure. Then the yellow jackets began showing up again and this irritated the birds. They began fighting the yellow jackets that seemed to be arriving in greater numbers. First there were only a few, then a dozen then at least 2 dozen.   never really more than that and I retreated inside.  After an hour or so, at about noon I heard a big racket outside. The feeder was nearly empty and there were a lot of yellow jackets on it. I went out to once again clean it off, and when I opened the door, one Ruby-throat came immediately to me and hovered in front of my face staring at me. Then it started chirping in a very excited way. It looked directly at me, and moved back and forth still looking directly at my face.  After a few seconds of this it flew off, I watched, and I retrieved the feeder and brought it inside. I decided to wait a while before refilling it, rather than feed and encourage the Yellow Jackets.

I went back to work and it was a couple of hours before I finished. I refilled the feeder and brought it back out to the porch hanger.  I noticed that the other feeders were all empty. I did not see a hummingbird.  A half hour later I went out and it was covered again with yellow jackets. I moved it back inside, and then an hour later moved it back out trying to discourage the insects.   By late afternoon I had done this a couple of times and it was obvious that I was feeding yellow jackets and not hummers. That had not happened all summer. The hummers were able to defend this feeder from all bees and other insects. Since that last episode between myself and the chirping bird, which may in fact have been "Lucky"  I have not seen them. As of this writing, it has been nearly a week.

It is always melancholy when friends depart.  It was hard when the bluebirds left a few weeks ago, although I know that they are in the area and will be back.  Today, as I write this it is very quiet outside, and the only bird sounds are the occasional Canada Geese, a flock of Wood ducks on the marsh, and a Pileated off in the distance.  I hope the delightful Ruby-throats that shared the summer with us have a safe and wonderful journey, maybe all the way to Coast Rica!