You see a flash of emerald. It’s gone before you can blink. Most people spend their summer afternoons staring at the feeder, waiting for that iconic red throat to shimmer in the sun. But honestly? You’re probably ignoring the most interesting bird in the yard. The ruby throated hummingbird female is a master of camouflage, a single mother doing 100% of the heavy lifting, and a tactical genius. While the males are busy being flashy and aggressive over a patch of sugar water, the females are out there actually keeping the species alive. They don’t have the ruby gorget. They don't need it.
Green backs. White bellies. That’s the look. At first glance, she looks "plain," but that’s by design. If you were sitting on a nest the size of a walnut for two weeks, you wouldn’t want a neon sign on your throat either. Predators like hawks and even large dragonflies are constantly watching. She blends into the leaves. It's survival.
Identifying the Ruby Throated Hummingbird Female Without the Red
Identifying a ruby throated hummingbird female is actually harder than it sounds if you have other species passing through. If you’re in the eastern United States, she’s likely the only one you’ll see, but during migration, things get tricky.
She has a metallic green back and crown. Her underparts are a clean, dull white or light grey. The biggest giveaway? Look at the tail. When she fans it out to land or hover, you’ll see white tips on the outer feathers. The males have a dark, forked tail with no white at all. Also, if you see a hummingbird that looks a bit "chunkier" or larger than the others, it’s probably a female. They generally weigh a tiny bit more than the males, hovering around 3.5 to 4 grams. That’s about the weight of a nickel. Imagine flying across the Gulf of Mexico on the weight of a nickel.
It’s wild.
Sometimes you’ll see a young male that looks exactly like a female. These "juveniles" have the white-tipped tail feathers too. However, by late summer, the young males start getting little dark "freckles" or a stray red feather on their throats. If the throat is perfectly smooth and pale, you’re looking at a lady.
The Myth of the "Lazy" Male
Ornithologists like Sheri Williamson, author of the Peterson Field Guide to Hummingbirds, have noted the extreme dimorphism in this species. The male’s only job is to look pretty and defend a territory. He does zero nesting. He doesn't help feed the chicks. He doesn't even stick around after the "deed" is done.
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The female does it all.
She builds the nest. She finds the spiderwebs. She hunts the gnats.
Nesting: A Masterclass in Engineering
The nest of a ruby throated hummingbird female is a miracle of nature. You’ve probably walked past ten of them and never knew. They are usually built on a downward-sloping limb of a deciduous tree like an oak or a maple, often over water or an open area.
How do they stay together? Spider silk.
She literally steals webs from spiders to use as glue. She wraps the silk around the twig and then builds up the walls using bud scales and lichen. The lichen acts as camouflage. To the naked eye, the nest looks like a knot on a tree branch. It’s tiny—about the size of a large thimble.
But here is the cool part: the nest is elastic.
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As the two chicks grow (she almost always lays exactly two eggs), the spider silk allows the nest to stretch. It grows with them so they don't fall out. If she used rigid sticks like a robin, the nest would shatter under the pressure of two rapidly growing birds. She stamps down the floor of the nest with her feet, shaping it into a perfect cup.
What She Actually Eats
Everyone talks about nectar. Nectar is just the fuel. It's the gasoline. But you can't build a body out of sugar water.
The ruby throated hummingbird female is a prolific hunter. She needs protein to produce eggs and to feed her rapidly growing nestlings. She catches fruit flies, gnats, and tiny spiders mid-air. She’ll even pull insects right out of spider webs—risking her own life to steal a meal. If you see her hovering near a shrub and "darting" at nothing, she’s likely snagging invisible bugs.
She’s basically a tiny hawk.
The Brutal Reality of Migration
Come August or September, these birds get restless. This is called "zugunruhe"—migratory restlessness. The ruby throated hummingbird female has to bulk up. She’ll put on about 40% of her body weight in fat.
Then comes the flight.
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Many of them fly straight across the Gulf of Mexico. That is a 500-mile non-stop flight over open water. There is nowhere to land. No snacks. No rest. If they hit a headwind, they die. They fly at about 25 to 30 miles per hour. If you do the math, that’s roughly 18 to 22 hours of continuous flapping.
Their hearts beat up to 1,200 times per minute during this trek.
Why do they do it? Food. Central America is lush while the US is freezing. But the sheer grit required for a bird that weighs less than a letter to cross an ocean is honestly hard to wrap your head around.
How to Actually Help Them
If you want to support the ruby throated hummingbird female in your yard, stop thinking only about feeders. Feeders are great, but they are a supplement.
- Plant Native Red Flowers: Trumpet creeper, Bee Balm (Monarda), and Cardinal Flower are the gold standard. These plants have evolved with hummingbird beaks. The nectar is "timed" to replenish just as the bird needs more.
- Leave the Spiders Alone: If you use pesticides to kill "pests," you are killing the bird's building materials and her primary food source. No spiders = no nests.
- Clean Your Feeders: This is huge. In the summer heat, sugar water ferments in 24 to 48 hours. Fermented nectar causes a fungal infection that makes the bird's tongue swell. They can't eat. They starve. If you can't commit to cleaning it every two days, don't put one out.
- Provide a Water Misting Station: Hummingbirds don't usually use traditional bird baths. They are too deep. They love to fly through a fine mist. If you have a hose attachment that does a "mist" setting, turn it on for an hour on a hot day. You’ll see them zip through it to clean their feathers.
The "Orange" Mystery
Sometimes people report seeing a "brown" or "orange" female. Be careful here. If you are in the East and see a distinctly rufous (reddish-brown) hummingbird, it might not be a Ruby-throated at all. The Rufous Hummingbird is an aggressive western species that is increasingly "vagrantly" showing up in the East during winter.
But 99% of the time, that green-and-white bird is your resident Ruby-throat.
The ruby throated hummingbird female isn't just a "mate" for the colorful male. She is the architect, the pilot, and the provider. She survives on a knife's edge every single day. Next time you see that "plain" bird at your feeder, give her some respect. She’s probably got a nest nearby that she built with her own spit and stolen silk, and she’s likely preparing for a 500-mile ocean crossing.
Next Steps for Bird Enthusiasts:
- Check your yard for nesting sites: Look for horizontal branches that are sheltered from the wind, usually 10-20 feet up.
- Audit your garden: Ensure you have flowers blooming in early spring (when they arrive) and late fall (when they leave).
- Install a window collision deterrent: Millions of these birds die hitting glass. Use UV decals or paracord "zen curtains" to make your windows visible to them.