Four Ways to Help our Hummingbirds Fly Home

On tiny whirring wings, hummingbirds may fly thousands of miles north to nest, crossing open waters or high mountains.  Right now, you can make a difference for our smallest birds facing big troubles before they need emergency room measures to save them.

Four Ways to Be A Hummingbird Hero:

1. Speak out in support of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.
2. Keep cats indoors.
3. Plant native wildflowers for hummingbird nectar and native trees and shrubs for nesting and insect foods.
4. Garden organically—don’t use pesticides and herbicides.

The rufous hummingbird holds the hummingbird migration record at more than 4,000 miles! In January of 2010, a banded bird flew all the way from the Florida panhandle to Prince William Sound, Alaska. Follow the rufous hummingbird journey north this spring.

Sadly, fewer rufous hummingbirds brighten the days of people who live along their sky path.  Each year from 1966 to 2014, rufous hummingbird populations have fallen, adding up to a collective decline of 62 percent.

Likely culprits are habitat loss, climate change that affects flower bloom timing, and threats along their very long migration routes. Without conservation action, rufous hummingbirds could be in trouble. That’s why Alaska, Nevada, and Colorado have listed them as species of greatest conservation need.

With some exceptions in Florida, most fly north from Mexico or southern California in March and follow the Pacific coast to nest in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and southeast Alaska by June. Their journeys are closely tied to the blooming cycles of flowers.

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act gives our state wildlife agencies funding to address the threats in time to reverse trends before declining species like the Rufous hummingbird become critically imperiled. If we wait too long, recovery is both expensive and sometimes impossible.

Show your support for Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. TAKE ACTION.