Yes, the ruby-throated hummingbird can be found in Arizona. The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is the most common and widely distributed hummingbird species in eastern North America. While it primarily summers throughout the eastern United States and Canada, some ruby-throats winter as far west as Arizona and southern California.
Why do ruby throated hummingbirds migrate?
Ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate primarily to find food. They feed on the nectar from flowers and flowering plants using their specialized long bills and tongues. During the summer months, they take advantage of the abundance of flowers and blooms across eastern North America to fuel up for breeding. However, as winter approaches and flowers become more scarce, ruby-throats migrate south to warmer climates where flowers continue to bloom and nectar remains available.
Arizona and other southwestern states provide ideal overwintering habitat for ruby-throated hummingbirds due to the warmer climate and prevalence of flowering plants even during the winter months. By migrating south, ruby-throats can find enough food to sustain themselves throughout the winter when food would be extremely scarce further north.
What is the ruby throated hummingbird’s migration route?
Ruby-throated hummingbirds follow a fairly direct migration route between their breeding grounds in eastern North America and their wintering grounds in southern states like Arizona. Their fall migration south takes place over the course of August through October. Most ruby-throats cross the Gulf of Mexico, a 500 mile journey over open water, to reach their southern destinations.
During spring migration north, ruby-throats follow the same route in reverse from March through May. They move north along the interior of North America, passing through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and other central states on their way back to their eastern breeding habitats.
While not all ruby-throated hummingbirds complete the long Gulf crossing or migrate as far as Arizona each year, a significant portion of the population winters throughout the Southwest. Banding and tracking studies have traced ruby-throats originating from all over the eastern United States finding their way to wintering grounds in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and southern California.
What habitats and flowers do ruby throats prefer in Arizona?
Ruby-throated hummingbirds utilize a variety of habitats and flower sources while wintering in Arizona. Some of the habitats they occupy include:
- Deserts – Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert areas provide important flowering plants like ocotillo, palo verde, batamote, and desert honeysuckle.
- Riparian areas – Streamsides and canyons containing sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows that bloom early in the season.
- Backyard gardens – Ruby-throats readily visit feeders as well as non-native flowers like lantana, nectar plants, and various ornamentals in urban and suburban neighborhoods.
- Sky islands – Higher elevation mountain ranges and canyons containing a diversity of hummingbird flowers and blooms.
Favorite natural food sources include red tubular flowers adapted specifically for pollination by hummingbirds. Some examples include various sage species like scarlet sage and autumn sage, penstemons, fuchsia-flowering gooseberry, and Arizona honeysuckle. Landscaping with native plants that provide late fall through early spring blooms will help attract wintering hummingbirds.
When do ruby throats arrive in Arizona?
The timing of ruby-throated hummingbird migration and arrival in Arizona depends on a few factors:
- Age – Adult ruby-throats tend to arrive earlier, while young birds migrating for the first time arrive later.
- Sex – Males precede females during both fall and spring migration periods.
- Weather conditions – Migration is earlier during warm autumns and later if delayed by cold temperatures further north.
However, their arrival in Arizona typically follows this general timeline:
- Early arrivals – Adult males first appear in southeast Arizona by late July and early August.
- Peak migration – Most ruby-throats arrive September through mid-October. Movement corresponds with cold fronts further north.
- Late stragglers – Young birds may not reach Arizona until November or even December.
Maintaining hummingbird feeders and landscaping with late-blooming flowers will help provide food for early arrivals as well as late-migrating birds.
Do ruby throats breed in Arizona?
No, ruby-throated hummingbirds do not typically breed in Arizona or anywhere along their migration route and wintering grounds. Breeding is confined exclusively to their summer range in eastern North America.
A few key reasons ruby-throated hummingbirds don’t breed outside their normal range:
- Timing – Migration and wintering occurs outside the usual breeding period for this species which coincides with early spring bloom periods further north and east.
- Lack of nesting habitat – The specific forest and woodland habitats required for nesting are not present in the Southwest.
- Lack of food – The peak nectar and insect food resources necessary to sustain breeding and rearing young are not available.
There are a few very rare exceptions where stray ruby-throats have summered and even attempted nesting in southeast Arizona. But overall they are a migrant and winter resident only throughout the Southwest.
How can I attract ruby throats to my yard?
Here are some tips to make your yard attractive for migrating and wintering ruby-throated hummingbirds in Arizona:
- Provide nectar feeders – Maintain clean feeders with a nectar mix of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water. Place in a shady location.
- Plant native blooming plants – Penstemon, desert honeysuckle, sage, ocotillo and other tubular flowers draw in hummingbirds.
- Include nectar plants – Trumpet vine, lantana, fuchsia, and ornithogalum are non-native favorites.
- Supply insects – Sprinklers, fountains or shallow trays can provide small insects and gnats.
- Avoid pesticides – Chemicals reduce natural insect populations hummingbirds rely on.
- Supply perches – Hummingbirds often perch between feeder visits, so leave some woody branches and perches.
Providing multiple food and water sources will create a welcoming oasis for migrating and wintering hummingbirds passing through or settling in your area.
When does the ruby throated hummingbird leave Arizona?
The timing of ruby-throated hummingbird spring migration departure from Arizona includes:
- Early departures – Adult males begin leaving winter sites as early as late January and February.
- Peak departure – Most activity occurs during March and April as flowers begin blooming northward.
- Late stragglers – Some young birds and females remain into early May.
Several factors influence departure timing from Arizona including food availability further north, weather conditions, and competition for food resources among the high density of wintering hummingbirds.
Maintaining feeders and blooming plants late into early spring will help support hummingbirds preparing for and still completing their long northbound migration.
Conclusion
In summary, ruby-throated hummingbirds are regular winter visitors to Arizona as the southern extremity of their migration and wintering range. Drawn by the warmer climate and continued availability of flower nectar, ruby-throats migrate from eastern breeding grounds along fairly direct routes across the Gulf of Mexico and central United States to reach Arizona and the Southwest. Though they do not breed in Arizona, ruby-throated hummingbirds utilize desert, riparian, mountain and urban habitats while present from as early as July through as late as May. Providing nectar feeders, pollinator-friendly plantings, nesting sites and insect sources can help attract and sustain wintering ruby-throat populations that journey remarkably thousands of miles to take advantage of the relatively mild winters of the desert Southwest.
