Ruby-throated Hummingbird

About the Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The default hummingbird of the eastern half of America - and anything but ordinary up close. The male's throat is a marvel of structural color: black in shade, then a flash of burning ruby the instant he turns into the sun. Females and young birds wear clean green and white, with none of the rusty tones of the western Selasphorus crowd.

Ruby-throateds breed across the eastern two-thirds of Texas, but the real spectacle is migration. In late August and September the state funnels an enormous share of the world's population toward the coast, where many will cross the Gulf of Mexico nonstop - five hundred miles over open water on a bird that weighs a nickel. A Texas feeder in September can host a dozen at once, all fueling for the jump.

They are fearless, inquisitive, and fiercely territorial, memorizing every flower and feeder on their route and returning to the same yards year after year. Studies suggest they recognize individual people - anyone who has been inspected at close range by one believes it.

The photograph to chase is the gorget flash: work with the sun behind you and wait for the male to turn his chin. One degree of head angle is the difference between black and fire.