Rufous Hummingbird in the Alabama Gulf Coast

January 04, 2016 • Leave a Comment

The Rufous Hummingbird can been seen along the West Coast of North America up to Alaska during the Spring and Summer. The winter months are spent in Mexico and Central America. However, more and more of these hummingbirds are showing up on the Gulf Coast during the Winter months. Scientists speculate the warming climate and human residence planting gardens than bloom year around are the cause for this. However, others feel this is a case of mistaken identity and they have been identified as straggling ruby-throated hummingbirds.

Rufous and Ruby hummingbirds look very similar but rufous birds have more orange in their colors so misidentification is very easy since they are fast moving birds. Ruby-throated hummingbirds spend their Spring , Summer, and Fall on the Gulf Coast. Late Fall the ruby's make their migration across the Gulf of Mexico. This is the same time some rufous hummingbirds make a turn West to the Gulf Coast. If you enjoy hummingbirds, you might be able to attract rufous hummingbirds by putting out feeders with 1 part sugar to 4 parts water that is brought to a boil. Some birders will even put out old bananas that attract fruit flies as insects are part of their diets.

The following pictures were taken on Monday, January 4, 2016. They feature a juvenile rufous hummingbird feeding at a blooming flower. While there are several photos featured in this series, the actual time was just a few seconds. I had the camera in burst mode that captures 9 frames a second. The last pic is one of the tiny bird resting in a tree. Because they expend much energy flying around they spend most of their time sitting still. At night or during cold weather they will even go into a state of hibernation to preserve energy.

For more information: Audubon: Rufous Hummingbirds in Unusual Places