Hummingbirds Pause for a Sip While Migrating Across the Gulf

Ruby-throated hummingbird hovering (photo from Wikimedia) 9 October 2026 One of the easiest hummingbirds to see on our birding tour in Veracruz, Mexico were our own ruby-throats. Right now they are still moving south but in only five months they’ll be on their way north again. Most of them are in the Mexican highlands right now but there’s a hotspot in the lowlands at the coast where we saw many. (Blue arrow on this eBird occurrence map for week of 4 Oct.) Weekly abundance of ruby-throated hummingbirds, week of 4 October (map from eBird Status and Trends) Over the winter most of them stay in Mexico, others continue as far as Costa Rica. By early February they are restless and some of them mass at the Yucatan coast to fly north across the Gulf. (eBird abundance map for the week of 1 February indicating the Yucatan) Weekly abundance of ruby-throated hummingbirds, week of 1 February (map from eBird Status and Trends) In late February the Yucatan ruby-throats are on their way across the…