Hummingbirds are charming flying creatures that tend to travel down from their wintering grounds (usually in Mexico and Central America), down to our side to breed. But when exactly is hummingbirds breeding season?
For many people, it’s a delight when hummingbirds return to our gardens, parks, farms, and so on. They usher in their bubbling activities that fascinate birders.
However, most of these birds may not be all year round in most regions in North America. But you can still find some residence hummers that live all year round in some regions.
But what we would like to know is when hummingbirds’ breeding season is. Let’s look into this.
When Do Hummingbirds Mate: Hummingbirds Breeding Season
As a hummingbird enthusiast, you may often wonder when hummingbirds season is. Or you may want to know what months do hummingbirds breed. Let’s look into this.
The season hummingbird mate in early spring. However, the Ruby-throated hummingbirds (one of the most common hummingbird species) are the species that usually early spring.
Then in the western part of the United State, other hummingbird species such as Anna’s hummingbird begins their mating in late December and early January up until March and April.
These lustrous birds migrate from their wintering ground and return back to the United States and Canada to nest and breed. Their return in spring is usually around middle March to late March.
But generally, you should take note that these dates are only estimated dates and should not be considered as specific dates. Things could change slightly in your region. Hummingbirds’ breeding season may happen earlier or later from these estimated dates.
The male hummers are usually the first to arrive ahead of the female hummers. This is usually one or two weeks ahead. Then the male hummingbirds establish their feeding and mating grounds when they arrive first.
Again, once hummingbird migrates back to our site for their nesting and breeding activities, they prefer to breed when the weather is warm enough. Once the weather is warm enough, it encourages plants that are required by these hummers to grow. Hence, there will be the provision of reliable food sources.
A reliable food source needs to be available close by for the offspring of the hummingbird.
The male hummingbird however does not take part in the building or raising of offspring. They only mate with the female hummers. Only the female hummingbird carries all the responsibility.
What Time Of The Year Do Hummingbirds Nest?
Hummingbird’s nesting periods usually begin once the female hummingbird is ready to mate, lay her eggs, and raise her offspring.
Therefore, the period hummingbird tends to nest is the same as their breeding season. This is usually around early spring.
So, once the male and female hummingbirds have succeeded in mating, the female hummingbird goes to scout and pick a safe place to build her nest for her coming offspring.
She usually picks a conspicuous spot or they prefer to build their nest in sheltered trees or shrubbery spots. This often gives their chicks shelter from predators.
The female hummingbird will also choose a location that is close to a reliable food source. This way, she won’t have to go too far to search for food for her chicks.
How Do Hummingbirds Mate?
The male hummingbirds are the ones that do the work of attracting the female hummingbirds. The manner in which the male hummingbirds act to attract their fellow female hummers is another fascinating event to watch.
One outstanding feature the male hummingbird posses just to be able to attract the female hummers is a colorful plumage. The male hummingbirds are usually more colorful and radiant than female hummingbirds.
The male hummers perform a showy and energetic mating display just to entice the female hummers. Below is a brief description of the male hummingbird performance to attract their fellow female hummers:
Mating performance of hummingbirds
The male hummingbirds show off by flying in a showy manner with many loops and zigzags. Normally, the male hummingbirds can fly as high as 150 feet up in the air. Then he will plummet straight down and pull up right before impacts.
Anna’s hummingbird species for instance is one of the most striking of all species. This hummingbird species of hummingbird tends to fall so fast that it can be compared to a space shuttle entering the atmosphere.
Anna’s hummingbird aligns their display dive in relation to the sun so their radiant and colorful plumage can be more visible and alluring. They usually look like an object dropping from the sky at a high speed of 385 body lengths per second.
So, Anna’s mating dive makes them the world’s fastest bird. They fly so high and incredibly pull up against nine times the force of gravity and survive.
At the end of the showy display from the male hummingbird, it is all about the female’s choice. It is the female hummingbird that will decide if she wishes to mate with the male or not.
If the female hummer doesn’t consent to mate with the male, the female will often fly away. Then the male also flies away to look for another female to entice.
However, if the female hummer shows interest in the male, she may lead the male to the location where she has built her nest. The female tends to point her bill in the direction of the male to show she is interested in the male hummingbirds.
Male Hummers Protecting their Mating Territory
The male hummingbird will as well defend their mating territory from other male hummers. They do this aggressively.
In some species of hummingbirds, they tend to spread their tail to look bigger. Some other hummingbird species can ruffle their feathers just to appear intimidating.
Conclusion On Hummingbirds Breeding Season
Hummingbirds are amazing and spectacular birds that we birders love to have in our gardens, parks, farms, and the likes.
When they migrate back to our region, the males usually arrive to mark their feeding territory. Then the females come to build their nest, breed, and may also mark some feeding territory.
In this post, we have seen that hummingbird breeding season has been estimated to be around early spring. so, we do hope you have gained some insight into the breeding season of these lustrous birds.