HUMMINGBIRD SUMMER &
WINTER DISTRIBUTION
(range map)

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) are Neotropical migrant insect- and nectar-eaters that breed from Florida to Maine; westward across the Great Plains to foothills of the Rockies; from south Texas north to southern Canada; and northwest into Alberta.

RTHUs overwinter rarely in south Florida and on the Gulf Coast, migrating primarily to central Mexico and south to northern Panama. There are a very few winter records from Cuba, Hispaniola, Bahamas, Bermuda, and southeastern U.S. coastal areas. Little is known about autumn migrational routes. Some migrant RTHUs apparently fly from Florida to the Yucatan; however, many RTHUs gather in Louisiana or Texas in mid-September before flying across the Gulf, and some may take an overland route through Mexico.

(If you see a Tarzan movie that takes place in Africa and you see a hummingbird hovering in the background, the film was probably shot on a studio lot in Hollywood, California!)

38 U.S. states in which the Ruby-throated Hummingbird regularly breeds:
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin; eastern portions of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas; and a small strip of northern Montana.

7 Canadian provinces in which the Ruby-throated Hummingbird regularly breeds:
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; and southernmost Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
NOTE: There are scattered breeding and/or winter records for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds outside areas highlighted on the range map. All such sightings should be reported to appropriate local or state ornithology groups or by e-mail to Operation RubyThroat at: WEBMASTER.

 9 countries in which the Ruby-throated Hummingbird regularly spends the winter (October-March):
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, central and southern Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States (southern Florida and the Texas Gulf Coast, with a few isolated birds in other Atlantic and Gulf Coast states).

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