Ruby-throated males have metallic green backs, black chins, metallic red throats and white underparts. Females lack the black chins and red throats.

Mating season: Spring and summer. Ruby-throats usually nest 2 or 3 times a season.
Breeding territory: 1 pair per 26 acres
Gestation: Eggs hatch in 11-14 days, young fledge 14-28 days after that.
Number of young: usually 2. Eggs are a ½ inch long, round and white.
Diet: Flower nectar and small insects

Male hummingbirds arrive first and establish a territory that they vigorously defend. Females are courted by the males flying in a u-shaped pattern in front of them. Nests are made from lichens and spiderwebs and lined with plant down.

Few birds give more enjoyment to backyard birdwatchers than hummingbirds. Here in Texas we have seen at least 17 different species. Most are found in far west or south Texas or along the coast during the winter.

All hummingbirds are attracted to red, tubular flowers. Planting these flowers and hanging a hummingbird feeder full of sugar water are good ways to attract them to your area.

Our greatest concentration of hummers occurs during the fall migration, when northern migrants gather along the Gulf Coast and feed voraciously before making the nonstop flight across the Gulf of Mexico.

• Hummingbirds are the only birds able to fly backwards!
  
  
• Hummingbirds often eat their own weight in food each day. Hummingbirds can drop their body temperature and become dormant during times of low food or cold weather. This process is called torpor.
  
  
• Hummingbirds received their name from the sound that their wings make.
  
  
• Hummingbirds get the protein they need in their diet by eating the small insects and spiders they find in flowers.
  
  
• The smallest bird in the world is the 2½ inch long Scintillant Hummingbird found in Costa Rica and Panama.
  
  
• Legend has it even Christopher Columbus was astonished at the site of these brilliant birds as he wrote in his journal about “little birds...so different from ours it is a marvel.” Because of this beauty and their tiny size “hummers” have figured prominently in myths and legends. One such myth is the idea that hummingbirds must “hitchhike” on the back of migrating geese to make the long journey across the Gulf of Mexico.