No one seems to know why hummingbirds migrate, but the hummingbirds.   There have been  many theories and assumptions over the years.   Some say, hummingbirds have chemical changes in their bodies to let them know when it is time to migrate.   Others say they can sense the difference in daylight.   Yet many believe that they are just following the seasonal blooming of flowers and the migration of insects.

    When it is time for hummingbirds to migrate, they will start feeding to gain weight.   They eat more insects and nectar than usual to fatten themselves up for the long flight.   Hummingbirds can put on up to forty percent of their body weight for migration.   You may notice an influx of hummingbirds on your feeders when it is time for them to migrate back to their home feeding grounds in the fall and winter months.   Hummingbirds will go home on the same path as they did when they arrived at your door.   They will follow this migration path for the rest of their lives.

    Many hummingbirds who decide to migrate, will usually start around the same time period.  This happens when the weather starts to change in your area.   Although, they may leave around the same time period, with most of them going in the same direction, hummingbirds are lone travelers.   They do not travel in flocks, like other birds going south for the winter.   The reasons some say for this is, a lone hummingbird has a better chance against a predator, because they are harder to see than a flock of them would be.
Also hummingbirds do stop along the migration path home to feed at flowers and hummingbird feeders.   Just think, what it would be like if a flock of hummingbirds all wanted to feed on a hummingbird feeder at the same time.

    Hummingbirds who migrate back to their home grounds usually fly low to the ground.   There have been reports of hummingbirds flying just above the trees when flying over land and swiftly passing just above the tops of water ways on their flight home.   It is said, they do this to look for a food sources along the route home.

    Hummingbirds in migration, fly during the day and will sleep at night.   Some hummingbirds who fly over great bodies of water have no place to land to find a place to sleep.   They must keep flying until they reach land and are able to rest and sleep.   It is amazing how these little birds, travel so many miles over water without stopping to reach a favorite breeding ground.

    Hummingbirds start their migration pattern in Spring.   They travel north and start arriving around February in the Southern United States and they can reach as far as Alaska in May.   They will start their return trip south to Mexico and Central America sometime in the fall, starting in August and lasting through October.

    The migration period can last anywhere from one week to four weeks.   Hummingbirds average about twenty to twenty-five miles a day.   They spend most of their time flying , but will make stops along the way to feed.   Hummingbirds have been know to stay in one place for one to fourteen days at a time while they are migrating.

    Male and female hummingbirds do not migrate at the same time.   It is usually the males who will leave first, then the females will follow later.   Males will arrive home about three weeks before the females will.   It is the belief the males do this to establish a  location with a good territory.  They will fight other males to protect these spots before the females and young arrive.    

    After arriving home, the first order of business for a hummingbird is food.   When feeding is done, the males will steak out their territories and look for females.   The females will look for the most impressive male to mate with and then start to build a nest.

    Many of us who put out feeders each year, eagerly anticipate the arrival of these wonderful little birds in the Spring.   Here is a great web site to track the migration of hummingbirds in your area:  http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html .   Hummingbirds bring joy and entertainment to so many who watch them.

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