To supply oxygen to its supercharged body, the Ruby-throat breathes about 250 times per minute, compared to only 16 times per minute for most people. To fuel their frenetic lifestyle, Ruby-throats must consume twice their body weight in food each day. The darting image of the Ruby-throat buzzing around the nectar feeder in your backyard represents just a small part of this migratory bird's fascinating life. When hummers leave your neighborhood in early fall, they begin a journey that will take them to the wilds of Mexico. This brief glimpse into the life of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is just a sample of the excitement that awaits you when you begin to study birds.
Birds are everywhere.
They inhabit our cities and the countryside. They are often the most conspicuous and abundant wildlife in our neighborhoods. They are easy to see and observe, and birds have fascinating lives that will introduce you to a whole new world of animal behavior and ecology. In winter, there are typically only about one-half as many species of birds in your schoolyard as there are during the remainder of the year. Those migratory species that are not Neotropical migrants display a wide range of migration patterns.