By Jim Bywaters Rappahannock News Writer Our gardens are

By Jim Bywaters

Rappahannock News Writer

Our gardens are beginning to bloom and the air will soon be filled with tiny flying jewels, so it is time to prepare for hummingbirds. We spotted a hummingbird in our yard on April 23, it hovered around the location we had our nectar feeders last year, obviously expecting a drink.

We quickly hung a feeder, soon after the hummer flew to it and now makes frequent visits.

In North America we have about 15 species of hummers, the most popular of which is Archilochus colubris, better known as the Rubythroated Hummingbird. 0 The ruby-throat is a tiny bird, about three inches long. The females are larger and have longer bills than the males. The female also has two small white dots at the comer of her tail.

To many people the ruby-throats appear to be gray in color when in fact the birds are green. The reason for this is the birds are covered in highly specialized feathers that reflect only the green spectrum of sunlight, making our eyes see green. If the sun is not shining or the hummer is not at the correct angle to your eye the bird will appear gray.

Males have a throat patch that appears black until he turns to face you, then the throat patch lights up in a brilliant ruby red color. The bright ruby red color is also a result of reflected sunshine. This throat patch is also known as a gorget and is used to attract females. The bigger and brighter the gorget, the more the females are attracted.

Hummingbirds received their name from the “humming” noise their wings make as the whiz through the air. Some facts I find amazing about hummers are that their wings flap around 50 - 60 times per second during normal flight and can reach up to 200 beats during courtship flights, they can fly up to „ 50 miles per hour and usually fly no higher than 300 feet. ' These birds can hover, fly up and down, and are the only birds that can