Episode 60: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird – Voice of the Wild

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

An avian pollinator with a combination of speed and precision that makes them both an unparalleled hunter of little winged insects and an unrivaled drinker of nectar. Its name comes from the male’s gorget, the plumage on the front of the throat, which is an iridescent dark red. They are the only member of the hummingbird family that regularly graces sugar feeders east of the mississippi. This is the ruby throated hummingbird.

Long before the advent of manufactured sugar feeders, the ruby throat was enjoying nectar from long tubular flowers like the trumpet creeper and cardinal flower, so don’t be surprised if you come across one on a hike through a high quality forest. And remember, if you have a sugar feeder, make sure you're changing that sugar water regularly, as much as once a day in the heat of the summer. Here’s the ruby throated hummingbird again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW