BC Conservation Data Centre: Conservation Status Report
Archilochus colubris
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
| Scientific Name: | Archilochus colubris |
|---|---|
| English Name: | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Provincial Status Summary | |
| Status: | S1B |
| Date Status Assigned: | March 25, 2022 |
| Date Last Reviewed: | March 25, 2022 |
| Reasons: | Rare summer visitant, almost entirely confined to the Boreal Plains Ecoprovince, with a nearby record from the Sub-boreal Interior Ecoprovince and an isolated record from the Taiga Plains Ecoprovince (Phinney 2015). |
| Range | |
| Range Extent: | E = 5,000-20,000 square km |
| Range Extent Comments: | The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is almost entirely confined to the Boreal Plains Ecoprovince, with a nearby record from the Sub-boreal Interior Ecoprovince and an isolated record from the Taiga Plains Ecoprovince (Phinney 2015e). Casual non-breeder west of the Rocky Mountains occaisionally to the coast (ebird ND). |
| Area of Occupancy (km2): | U = Unknown |
| Occurrences & Population | |
| Number of Occurrences: | BC = 6 - 80 |
| Comments: | 16 breeding bird atlas squares reported Ruby-throated Hummingbird and 3 of them were considered probable (Phinney 2015e) There are multiple records from eBird, including photodocumentation of both male and female and immature birds, mostly visiting feeders. |
| Number of Occurrences with Good Viability / Ecological Integrity: | CD = 4 - 40 |
| Comments: | Known to be in the Taylor area for over 20 years. |
| Number of Occurrences Appropriately Protected & Managed: | A = None |
| Comments: | There are no formal protected areas managed for Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Could easily use provincial parks, ecological reserves, and other protected sites. |
| Population Size: | AB = 1 - 250 individuals |
| Comments: | Population is very small, however, the species is easily over looked and easily misidentified, there are records from the same location for multiple years and some records of multiple females and a male visiting the same feeder in the same season. A hummingbird bander banded 10 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in 2011 (including one pair). |
| Threats (to population, occurrences, or area affected) | |
| Degree of Threat: | C = Medium |
| Comments: | Threatened by the more aggressive, native Rufous Hummingbird. Anecdotal information indicates the Ruby-throated Hummingbird was the only hummingbird species in the Peace prior to the early 1980s. It is unclear whether the Rufous moved in because of human-created habitat. Pesticide use, particularly around houses and feeders could be detrimental. |
| Trend (in population, range, area occupied, and/or condition of occurrences) | |
| Short-Term Trend: | H = Increase of 10-25% |
| Comments: | Prior to the 1990s northeastern BC received scant and irregular coverage. Numbers of Ruby-throated Hummingbird in BC may be increasing, but difficult to determine as effort has significantly increased in the last four years with the BC Breeding Bird Atlas. Phinney (2015e) credited the change in status to effort, rather than a true change in numbers and range. ECCC (2019) documented a significant increase Canada wide. In adjacent Alberta, however, the second Breeding Birds of Alberta atlas (Federation of Alberta Naturalists 2007) detected a decline in relative abundance between the first atlas and the second atlas in the Boreal Forest Natural Region which is adjacent to NE BC . Phinney (2015e) noted that "Ruby-throated Hummingbirds may suffer competitive exclusion from Rufous and Calliope hummingbirds which have spread into northeastern British Columbia in recent decades." |
| Long-Term Trend: | G = Relatively Stable (<=10% change) |
| Comments: |
Significant increases throughout North America(1966-2009; 2.0% PA) (Sauer et.al 2011) The trend is 2.3% p/a for Canada (Breeding Bird Surveys 1970-2009) and 7.5% p/a for the Boreal Taiga Plains (1973-2009) (Environment Canada, 2010) but data for BC are too few to determine a trend. |
| Other Factors | |
| Intrinsic Vulnerability: | U=Unknown |
| Environmental Specificity: | C=Moderate. Generalist or community with some key requirements scarce. |
| Comments: | Needs to be close to floral nectar, preferably that of tubular red flowers but can use non-native-producing plants and artificial feeders. |
| Other Rank Considerations: | Generally solitary. Found on forest edges and clearings, gardens; shrubby areas; also open aspen forests with some spruce. Frequent visitor to hummingbird feeders. May migrate west of the Rocky Mountains.It can be polygymous in other parts of North America. |
| Information Gaps | |
| Research Needs: | There needs to be a means of monitoring populations. |
| Inventory Needs: | Need method of determining the distribution and densities of Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Peace. |
| Stewardship | |
| Protection: | Any protection providing nesting sites, ample food (including sapsucker sapwells), and the absence of pesticides. |
| Management: | Will benefit from any form of land management providing nesting sites and ample food during nesting season; maintain sap trees (especially birch) with Yellow-bellied Sapsucker sapwells. Elsewhere in North America, the RTHU does not seem affected by timber harvesting. |
| Version | |
| Author: | L.Ramsay updated by D. F. Fraser(2022) |
| Date: | January 06, 2022 |
| References | |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
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Cannings, R.J. 1998. The Birds of British Columbia - a taxonomic catalogue. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch, Victoria, Wildl. Bull. B-86. 266pp.
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Federation of Alberta Naturalists. 2007. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta: A Second Look. Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Edmonton, AB.
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Fenneman, J. 2008. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In: Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2011. E-Fauna BC: Electronic Atlas of the Fauna of British Columbia [www.efauna.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [March 26, 2012 ].
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Godfrey, W.E. 1979.The Birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
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Munro, J.A., and I.McT. Cowan. 1947. A review of the bird fauna of British Columbia. B.C. Prov. Mus. Spec. Publ. No. 2, Victoria.
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NatureServe. 2012. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed March 24, 2012).
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Phinney, M. 1998. Spring and Summer Birds of Dawson Creek, 1991-1995. Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia Wildlife Report No. 4. Victoria, B.C.
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Phinney, M. 2015e. Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Davidson, P.J.A., R.J. Cannings, A.R. Couturier, D. Lepage, and C.M. Di Corrado (eds.). The atlas of the breeding birds of British Columbia, 2008-2012. Bird Studies Canada. Delta, BC.
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Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, J. E. Fallon, K. L. Pardieck, D. J. Ziolkowski, Jr., and W. A. Link. 2011. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2009. Version 3.23.2011 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for information on how the CDC determines conservation status ranks. For global conservation status reports and ranks, please visit the NatureServe website http://www.natureserve.org/.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2022. Conservation Status Report: Archilochus colubris. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Oct 22, 2026).