Hummingbird in my Brooklyn Yard

Just the other morning, right before getting ready for school, I noticed a hummingbird sipping nectar from the flowers on my pineapple sage. I couldn't believe it! So I grabbed my camera and started clicking away. (I was almost late for school too!)

I knew it was a ruby throated hummingbird because they are the only hummingbird species east of the Mississippi River. (Where my Mom lives, in Arizona, there are many species of hummingbird.) It is also the only breeding hummingbird in North America (that means it nests and lays eggs here in the summer.) I also knew it was a female because the males have a ruby throat and this one didn't.

Like monarch butterflies, this tiny bird migrates south during the winter. It was filling up on nectar in my yard for the many miles ahead of her en route to Central America, Mexico or the Caribbean. (Wish I was en route there too!) They are so tiny--about 3 1/2 inches long and weigh 1/8 ounce or 3 grams--that's three of those tiny blue gram pieces we use for measuring mass in class kids!)

Ruby-throated hummingbirds fly straight and fast but can stop instantly, hover, and adjust their position up, down, or backwards with exquisite control. This little gal would sip for a few seconds, then take a break. Here's a photo of her resting on the telephone wire and another on a butterfly bush.

I actually planted the pineapple sage hoping to attract a hummingbird. They are attracted to red, tubular flowers or long flowers. That's because they have long, skinny beaks that they stick down the long throats of the flowers to sip nectar. We have some pineapple sage in the raised bed gardens on McDonald Avenue, but they haven't bloomed yet because it's not sunny enough. Hopefully they will bloom and a hummer will visit the PS 230 garden soon!