I have been told this is fact. It has been true for my garden. The males always seem to arrive first. I was just wondering what others had observed.
Thanks
Teresa in KY
Do male hummingbirds return first?
Adult males come first followed in about 2 weeks by adult females, followed in another 2 weeks by juvenile hummers, both male and female. Adult male Ruby's arrive at Dolphin Island around the last week of Feb and have migrated as far north as Kentucky by mid March.
Interesting bit of trivia. Never heard this before.
Hi, they are here by April 1st most of the time. Where is Dolphin Island. Sounds great. We have snow. I love beaches and dolphins.
Teresa
Dolphin Island is just south of Mobile, AL
Oh, I have been there. We crossed on the ferry ride to vist
Bellingrath Gardens
Funny thing about the males returning first. I will see the males first, for a couple of weeks in the spring and then I do not see them all summer. They will come to the feeder in the same spot I had them the year before. I assume they are returning as adults. I don't know if they are going farther north or what, but they don't hang. I only have females and their young in the summer.
This is a true story. Last summer my young son and I had read the article on feeding birds from your hand in Birds and Blooms. So for a couple of day he would stand by our window feeder. They became use to him and he even touched one on its back. I had to try it too! It was so fun.
Adult males arrive 1st and migrate to where they claim a breeding territory. Adult females pass thru the males territory and they select which male they want to breed with, after which, they move on to claim a nesting territory. The female builds a nest and cares for her young on her own. The males just fool around and enjoy life. From banding records, most hummers return to the same general area they were born in within a 2 week period of the time they were there last yr. Most females will breed at least twice, laying 2 eggs on two separate days. This is the reason you see more hummers in late summer and fall, there has been a population explosion.
hummer_nut it sound like you have been doing a lot of studying on the little guys. I have read a few books, they are interesting.
On a side note, I heard on a radio station (so don't know if it's true or not at all) that someone did a study of the squirrels laying dead on the side of the road. All of them were pre-adult and all of them were male. Like I said, I only heard this and don't know the truth, but it sounded like it could be true.
I have helped band hummers and I have watched and read about them. In late summer and fall I'll have anywhere from 100 - 300 hummers in my yard daily. I will use about 1 gal of sugar water daily feeding them. I have had 5 different species that were banded in my yard. Most of the plants I have are for the hummers and I put out around 30 feeders. I usually get my 1st Ruby sometime between March 6th - 15th.
Hi, what species did you band at your home? I thought only the ruby throated one was over this far East. I would love to go out West or Mexico to bird watch!
Actually a number of different hummer species have been caught and banded east of the miss river. I have had rufous, black chined, allen, annas and of course ruby in my yard. The ones other than ruby have been fall and winter visitors. The allens and rufous stayed all winter. The annas and black chined stayed for 4 - 6 weeks. Other hummers that have been caught and banded in the southeast are: white eared, calliope, magnificent, broad-tailed, broad-billed, buff-bellied and green violet-eared. Here is a link to my friends Bob & Martha Sargent's hummer sight:
http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org/
This message was edited Feb 12, 2004 10:26 AM
Just bumping this up as hummer season is near.
Hummer season isn't near enough to suit me. I don't get any sightings till first week of May. Anyone know if your bird populations increase each year with the young returning to the area where they where born? Do they mate with siblings?
Hi, Sandy
I seem to have a couple of extra last year. My neigbor has the most. They nest up high in my apple trees. I start seeing the males in April