They’re back. As I look out our kitchen window, there is a swarm of rufous hummingbirds in our garden area. They are perched in the trees, feeding on flowers and attempting to perch on one of our many nectar feeders. The males are easy to spot due to their brilliant orange coloring. Females have green and orange coloring. As always, rufous are extremely territorial and are relentless attackers at feeders and flowers, going after larger hummingbird species.
The rufous make one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird species as measured by body size. At just over 3 inches long, they travel roughly 3,000 miles one-way from Mexico to Alaska. They make a clockwise journey of Western North America every year. They travel up the Pacific Coast in late winter and spring, reaching British Columbia or even southeastern Alaska by May. This represents the northernmost breeding area of any hummingbird in the world. In July, they start to move south again, traveling down the Rocky Mountain chain. By late July or early August, they have arrived in large numbers here in the Santa Fe area. They are likely to move on after just a week or two.
The rufous’ hippocampus area of the brain — related to learning and spatial memory — is proportionately the largest of any bird species, occupying five times the percentage of brain volume of songbirds. This spatial memory helps them pinpoint prime locations of nectar year to year and remember feeder locations from previous years. Some rufous have been seen returning during migration to search where a feeder had been in a prior year, even though the feeder had been moved. They don’t have to search long in our yard, where we have four feeders strategically placed so as to provide Black-chinned and Broad-tailed hummers a fighting chance to feed during the rufous onslaught.
The rufous need a lot of fuel to sustain their non-stop daily activity. They feed almost continuously throughout the day, often visiting 1,000 flowers a day, hovering at a remarkable 60 wingbeats per second. In addition to feeding on nectar, their diet includes tiny insects and spiders, rich in protein and needed to support not only their high level of activity but also for their fast-growing young. They capture their prey in the air and on foliage and flowers.
Male rufous hummingbirds court females with elaborate flight displays, typically steep, U-shaped dives. During these dives, air rushes though the wings and tails producing buzzy, chattering noise. During breeding season, the rufous relentlessly defend a breeding territory but after mating leave all the nesting and raising of the young to the female. The nest is a compact cup of grasses, spider webs and other soft materials with the outside camouflaged with lichens and moss. Their eggs are white, and the young have an incubation period of 15 to 17 days. Females feed the young by sticking their bills deep into the mouths of the young, regurgitating tiny insects mixed with nectar. The first flight of the young occurs at about 3 weeks.
The population of the rufous hummingbird is estimated to be 19 million but decreasing due to habitat loss both in breeding and wintering grounds. Because rufous rely on finding the right seasonal conditions in many habitats during the year, they could be very vulnerable to climate change. Rufous regularly fall prey to outdoor cats and other predators. Many others die due to window strikes. Keep your cats indoors and utilize window decals. Provide a welcoming, native backyard habitat (bright tubular shaped flowers preferred) to attract and sustain these wonders of nature while they pass through New Mexico.
Ken Bunkowski and his son, Matt, are co-owners of Wild Birds Unlimited in Santa Fe and look forward to sharing the joy that birds bring into our lives.
