I posted a photograph of a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird last week. This photograph is of her male counterpart. As you can see, the male has the ruby coloring around his throat. I learned that their ruby coloring does not show up well in the shadows. It’s quite visible in direct sunlight.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds prefer to feed on red or orange flowers (though it’s not necessary to color the sugar-water you put in a hummingbird feeder). Like many birds, hummingbirds have good color vision and can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, which humans can’t see. Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t stick around long. Pairs are together long enough for courtship and mating – just a matter of days to weeks. Then he’s off on his own, and may begin migration by early August.
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 7D Mark II using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 II Lens set on 400 mm. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/7.1, shutter speed at 1/320th of a second and the ISO set at 1600. This is a single image processed in Lightroom.
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© 2016 T. Kahler Photography
