In nature, you can actually see red and green emerald jewels flying about in different directions, and sparkling in the sunlight. No, we are not talking about Tinker Bell and her squad– we are drawing your attention to the superbly beautiful ruby-throated hummingbirds.
They have iridescent green plumage and ruby-red throat that glow when light falls on them. However, did you know that ruby-throated hummingbird male vs female do not have the same colors? It is very easy to tell them apart.
So, let’s glide in this amazing roller-coaster ride into the lives of ruby-throated hummingbirds.
Contents
About Hummingbirds
Among all the tiny birds that beautify the bosom of the Earth, hummingbirds are one. They boast a plumage that mimics the colors of the rainbow, combined with the luminescence of the feathers in certain angles of light. Hummingbirds belong to the order Apodiformes, and family Trochilidae. Thankfully, even amidst endangerment, there are 366 species and 113 genera.
Do you know why these birds are called hummingbirds? When they are drawing nectar from flowers with the help of their long, needle-like beaks, they keep flapping their wings at extremely fast speeds to keep their body suspended mid-air. The wingbeat rate can reach a speed of 12 beats per second, and it is this flapping that makes a “humming” noise— thus the name!
These beautiful birds are one of its kind– the only avians that can fly backwards. They can be found between Alaska and Tierra del Fuego, Central and South America. Hummingbirds are often confused with sunbirds and hummingbird moths, the latter being insects and not birds. The similarity between these creatures are astounding, thus the confusion.
Ruby Throated Hummingbird Female vs Male: Difference Table
Let’s take a look at this table to get a gist of the differences.
| Features | Ruby Throated Hummingbird Male | Ruby Throated Hummingbird Female |
| Throat | Ruby-red | White |
| Tail | Solid black, forked tails | White-tipped, rounded tails |
| Wings | Shorter wings | Longer wings |
| Courtship | Aerial display of plumage | Assesses and makes decision |
| Nesting Behavior | Polygynous | Single parenting |
Ruby Throated Hummingbird Male vs Female: Similarities
You guessed it. These hummingbirds have been gifted such a wonderful name because of the ruby-red coloration on their throat. Scientifically known as “Archilochus colubris”, these tiny creatures flaunt an emerald green body and a scarlet gorget.
Source: @photo_transcend
Though they are miniscule in size, they could be likened to pocket-size rogues because of their needle-shaped bills and a short fuse in temper. They hover around pretty-petalled flowers all day, using their long tongues, hidden inside their needle-like beak, to draw nectar from flowers. Their feet are very short as they do not have a knee– they look like they are sitting on their belly.
Their staple food is nectar from flowers like honeysuckles, cardinals and red morning glories. In winters, however, when blossoms lack, they divert their food preference to insect proteins. Spiders, gnats, mosquitoes, and beetles all fall prey to their needle-shaped bills.
Source: @jimgorum
Both males and females migrate long distances of up to 210 miles, and not once, but twice every year. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are native breeders of the eastern United States, and can be easily spotted in open woodlands, grasslands, meadows, parks, and flower gardens.
Ruby Throated Hummingbird Female vs Male: Physical Differences
Thanks to Mother Nature for a distinct sexual dimorphism existent between males and females, that they can easily be identified. Most of the defining features are present around their head.
Throat
Ruby-throated hummingbird males have a red throat, while females have a white throat.
Source: @carlyblairphotography
If you get the rare opportunity to gaze at a ruby-throated hummingbird for long enough, try to focus your attention on the throat area. All males are blessed by nature with a bright, red throat that is unmistakable. It glows on its chest, is iridescent, and appears scaly up-close.
Source: @shawnconlonphotography
Females have a white throat, hands down. They lack the ruby bib, but do not give two hoots about it because they are just as lovely without it. Older females, however, may grow a few streaks of red on their throat, but that does not define or resemble the red throat of a male.
Tail
Males have solid black, forked tails; females have white-tipped, rounded tails.
The next distinctive feature to look for are the tails. Females have fan-shaped or rounded tails. There are three feathers in their tail that, when fanned out, clearly show bright, white tips or edges. This is missing in a male.
On the other hand, males have fork-shaped tails. Their tail-tips are pointed. When males sit on a feeder, you can clearly see the V-shape on their tails. Also, look out for the lack of white edges– males have all black tails.
Wings
Females have longer wings; males make louder humming noises.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds have an astounding wingbeat speed of 50 times per second! Males utilize this humming noise to ward off predators and competition to let them know who the boss is! Hummingbird wings are quite long– so long in fact, the edges overhang when they sit.
Source: @seumas326
Males have slightly more pointed wings than females. Also, the humming sound they generate with their super-sonic wingbeat speed, is louder than females.
Females, on the contrary, have longer wings than males. Theri wingspan ranges between 3.1 and 4.2 inches. Additionally, the humming noise made by the females is a bit softer.
Body Plumage
Males are bright and iridescent, while females appear much subdued.
Male ruby-throated hummingbirds have a mesmerizing set of feathers on its body– on its crown, back and sides, the feathers have a metallic green sheen. The sheen originates from its iridescent feathers which is due to the structure of the plumage. The undersides of this magnificent bird is however quite plain– it is pale, with the chest area being gray.
Females are no less majestic in appearance–just the colors are a lighter shade. This is mainly because females do not initiate courtship during breeding season. The crown, belly, and the auriculars of the females are off-white to gray. The chest and belly regions are white, while the sides are light brown. However, the back and tails have a green metallic sheen.
Bill And Feet
Females have longer beaks than males. Females appear to have larger feet during egg-laying season.
The bill of ruby-throated hummingbirds may sometimes appear white due to accumulation of pollen grains, but the bills are actually solid black in color.
As we have read already, hummingbird beaks are quite long and needle-shaped which is an adaptation to reach to the inner parts of a flower to draw nectar. They are almost as long as 20% of the body length.
Female ruby-throated hummingbirds have longer beaks than males. Males have a beak measuring between 15 and 18 mm, whereas a female’s beak is between 17 and 21 mm.
Also, during the egg-laying season, the feet of females swell up and therefore look bigger than male feet. A long beak and larger feet apparently are adaptations that evolution has gifted the females with, so that they can carry out the pressurizing responsibilities of single-parenting.
Size
Females are larger and heavier than males.
Both males and females gain an ample amount of weight between August and September so as to accumulate energy for the fall migration.
Irrespective of that, females are heavier than males by about 14%, with the males weighing 3.4 gm. The length of the female body is between 2.8 and 3.5 inches.
Ruby Throated Hummingbird Male vs Female: Other Differences
A look into their behavioral pattern will simplify the dilemma.
Source: @richardschwartzphotography
Courtship
Males do aerial plumage displays, while females make the final decision.
Like most males in the avian world, ruby-throated males enjoy stealing the attention of females in order to make more beautiful little hummingbirds with her. However, males are polygynous and prefer several female suitors to follow him around.
Males become quite territorial during the mating season. They choose a spot in their territory and decorate the place with different kinds of food items so as to attract female attention. Once that works out successfully, the males rub their hands to commence the main segment.
The plumage display show is what we are talking about here. The males do a two-part plumage display which could be described as a “shuttle display” and “dive display”. In the shuttle display, the male engages in a U-shaped flight around the female, followed by whistling and a side-to-side shuttle flight.
In the dive display, the males fly 60 to 130 ft high into the air and then nose dive. Just before hitting the ground, they start making honking noises and come to a stop, then slide upwards.
Females do not participate in any serious plumage display show, but they do ruffle their tail feathers and droop their wings if they like the presentation. If she likes him, she bows and points her beak at him. But if she flies away, the males are left heart-broken, but only for a short while.
Nesting Behavior
Females commit to single parenting.
Ruby-throated hummingbird males, as mentioned earlier, practice polygyny and do not stay with the females after mating. Males do not stay around or undertake any parental responsibility during the egg-laying season or after the chicks hatch.
It does not make any difference to the hummingbird mothers though– they are experts at single parenting. On top of that, if any male does visit her or comes near her during the nesting season, she will chase him away lest his colorful plumage attracts any predators.
Soon-to-be-momma hummingbird chooses a cozy spot on a tree fork, and starts gathering soft plant materials for building the nest, and also collects spider silk to attach the pieces with. After that, she camouflages the nest with lichens and other types of vegetation. She takes about 10 days to design and build her nest. Nests are usually cup-shaped and walnut-sized.
She lays about 2 to 3 eggs and incubates the eggs for 2 weeks. She carries nectar and other food content in her crop and regurgitates the content directly into the open mouths of the chicks. Chicks are fed for 3 weeks, and for an extra one week after they start to fledge.
Source: @photo_transcend
Migratory Pattern
Males migrate a few days earlier than females.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are serious migratory birds. They migrate from the Caribbeans to Canada to spend the summers there.
They are capable of flying 2000 to 2500 miles to cover distances like the Gulf of Mexico to visit Costa Rica, one of their favorite vacation spots. On top of that, they fly solo, so the journey becomes quite risky for these little birds.
Spring migration starts in February or early March. The male ruby-throated hummingbirds leave the Caribbeans 10 to 14 days earlier than females.
Fun Facts on Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Fun never ends with these beautiful, scarlet-bibbed hummingbirds. It keeps getting better and better. We arranged this segment for you because we can bet you are curious to know more.
- Ruby-throated hummingbirds are so tiny they can be compared to one-tenth of a slice of bread. That means 10 hummingbirds can sit comfortably on a slice of bread!
- They are not social, and live a very solitary life– even their migration is solitary.
- They can see UV light rays that humans cannot see.
- The term ‘Apodiformes’, the name of the order ruby-throated hummingbirds belong to, means ‘no feet’. Hummingbirds do not walk or hop like other birds do. Their legs are kneeless and very short, therefore once people thought they had no feet.
- Mother birds are extremely territorial. When they get angry, they will pursue animals 100 times larger than their own size, like cats, larger birds, even humans.
FAQ
The questions below will further clarify you on the differences between ruby-throated hummingbird male and female.
Q: Do female ruby-throated hummingbirds look similar to juveniles?
Ans: Yes, they do. Juvenile males have a white throat like their mothers, that eventually turn red as they grow older. However, if you look closely, they have darker gray streaks on their throat than their mothers do.
Q: How do ruby-throated hummingbird male vs female calls differ?
Ans: Males make ‘chip chip chip’ and ‘tik tik tik’ noises when they are trying to keep threats at bay and during plumage display. Females are much quieter and make ticking noises when they are feeding. During courtship they make ‘mewing’ sounds.
Q: Are both male and female ruby-throated hummingbirds territorial?
Ans: Males are noisier and more territorial than the females. They make chattering or buzzing sounds when they are in fight mode. They warn predators or intruders from a higher position, make physical gestures, and if these do not work, they chase the intruder. As a last resort, they even provoke a fight.
Females become territorial during nesting and feeding time. When they get aggressive, they generate sharp trills and raspy calls.
Thoughts
Male and female ruby-throated hummingbirds are closely similar. They are both territorial, have a ravishing plumage, with similar dietary and habitat preferences.
However, a close observation of certain parts of their body reveal a different scenario. Also, the way they behave has secrets that set them apart. They are not that similar after all.
