Jewels of Summer

Attract ruby-throated hummingbirds with the right habitat and feeders

- By KAITLIN STAINBROOK

When the first ruby-throated hummingbird of summer zips into your backyard, it’s an almost-magical feeling.

Ruby-throats spend winter in Central America and then journey thousands of miles north to get to resource-rich summer breeding grounds in the East and Midwest. As part of their route, many fly over the Gulf.

T.J. Zenzal, a research ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, says, “Some of my own research on the Alabama coast during autumn migration has estimated that, on average, under still air conditions, many hummingbirds have enough fuel stores to potentially fly more than 1,500 miles without stopping!”

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