How far do hummingbirds migrate?
That varies from species to species and even population to population. Most tropical hummingbirds do very little traveling, since there are no cold temperatures and few food shortages to avoid. Further north the mild winter weather along the Pacific Coast and parts of the Mexican border offers a few species, such as Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds, a suitable year-round home. But most hummingbirds found north of Mexico are highly migratory, spending the summer and winter in completely different areas. The champion migrant is the Rufous Hummingbird, some of which must travel a minimum of 2700 miles one way from the northern edge of their nesting range in Alaska to the northern edge of their wintering range in Mexico. This distance equals 49 million body lengths, one of the longest migrations in proportion to size of any creature.
That varies from species to species and even population to population. Most tropical hummingbirds do very little traveling, since there are no cold temperatures and few food shortages to avoid. Further north the mild winter weather along the Pacific Coast and parts of the Mexican border offers a few species, such as Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds, a suitable year-round home. But most hummingbirds found north of Mexico are highly migratory, spending the summer and winter in completely different areas. The champion migrant is the Rufous Hummingbird, some of which must travel a minimum of 2700 miles one way from the northern edge of their nesting range in Alaska to the northern edge of their wintering range in Mexico. This distance equals 49 million body lengths, one of the longest migrations in proportion to size of any creature. Q: How long do hummingbirds live? A: A lot longer than we once thought. Very small animals with high metabolisms usually have short lifespans, and our early ex
