Hummingbird migration

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be out of date. Please look at the timestamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The weather is warming up this week. That means it’s time to start anticipating other signs of spring, including hummingbird migration.

The birds begin to move north. We still have some time before we see them hovering around our homes in St. Louis. Now is the right time to clean those feeders and get them ready to go.

The birds were spotted this year in the southern United States. They spend the winter in Central America or Mexico. Their annual northward migration begins as early as February.

Birds can fly more than 20 miles per day. They can lose almost half of their body weight during the trip. They are always on the lookout for sources of nectar to help them conserve the energy needed to travel thousands of miles.

The birds will eventually make their way to the east coast, upper parts of the Midwest, and southern Canada before settling in for the summer. The migration should be completed at the end of May. They will begin returning to Mexico in August.

Some hummingbirds in the United States do not migrate. They are found along the Pacific coast and southern parts of the country.

Hummingbird migration map:

Comments are closed.