If you have a humming in your ear, it may be a harbinger of Spring in flight coming your way

On the evening of April 18^th my wife and I were sitting on the back porch watching the sun go down. With a “humm” an old friend announced his arrival from South America. We record the date of this return every year.

Hummingbird approaches the Schwartz feeder on April 18, 2021 – Photos By Lisa Schwartz

He was a Ruby Throated Hummingbird who hovered in front of us as if to ask “Hey, where’s dinner?!?” You can follow their migration ONLINE and post your sightings.

Hundreds of kinds of hummingbirds nest in the American tropics, and more than a dozen in the western U.S., but east of the Great Plains there is only the Ruby-throat. They are fairly common in summer in open woods and gardens. Hovering in front of a flower to sip nectar, it beats its wings more than 50 times per second.

Let me at that sugar-tinged meal to celebrate being back – I need some calories!

It is an aviation marvel, able to hover or move in any direction in a blink of an eye they announce their arrival with a humm coming from their beating wings. You have to have a high speed camera to catch their wings. Impressive migrants despite their small size, some Ruby-throats may travel from Canada to Costa Rica following the warm weather, and food. Some fly over open ocean but others travel down the coast of Texas. The colorful males come north earlier than the females.

They eat small insects and their long beaks are used to drink fresh nectar from colorful flowers.

We have been feeding them for over twenty years. Last year we had six pairs. You can make your own hummingbird food. It just takes one cup of refined sugar to four cups boiling water, mix well, let cool and fill your hummingbird feeder. Last year we were training them to land on a small feeder in our hand. We fill them daily. The one downside is that we had a bear that would visit our back porch every night and empty all off the feeders.

One very hot summer day several years ago, I had an exhausted male land and take a breather on my finger. Females or immature males are less colorful but just as aggressive as males vying for a spot on the feeder.

Hummingbird approaches a flower for a sweet nectar meal in photo from Audubon Society website

To prepare for their 2000 mile long migrations, Hummingbirds pack on the weight! According to the Audubon web site most “double their body weight in fat, or more, before embarking on migrations.” Some even gain close to half that in just four days. They need it since their metabolism is one of the highest of any animal on Earth. They require the human equivalent of over 150,000 calories every day to power their fast-moving heart and wings, which can beat 1,000 and 3,000 times per minute, respectively. That fat accumulated before migration is burned in a steady release of energy, ideal for the 2,000-mile journey many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds make twice a year.

So, Hummingbirds are the true harbingers of spring and they are always welcomed.

(Lisa Schwartz contributed to this story)