Bird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 20 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 20

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, whole bird — **Male**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 76330558. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 20
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 20

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 20

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterDeveloped, Open SpaceLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)*Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"*, Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerWinterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Summer

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Summer

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerWinterDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (106)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 2

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter.
Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.

Elsewhere in the South (58)

Appalachian Shale Barrens Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer.
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer and winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer and winter.
South Florida Pine Rockland Summer and winter.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.

Northeast (7)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.

Midwest (3)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.

Land cover and other classes (36)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
Developed, Low Intensity Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer and winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer and winter.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter.
Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Summer: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.