Bird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 20 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
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 133 counties and cities
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 Virginia 20

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

1 of 20

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationPaul Sawyier, Landscape: young trees and shrubs in autumn colour crowding the rocky edge of a Kentucky woodland. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky (Paul Sawyier, Landscape; Johnson Collection), a neighboring state.Landscape label QS:Lit,"Paesaggio" label QS:Lhu,"Tájkép" label QS:Lca,"Paisatge" label QS:Lde,"Landschaft" label QS:Lpt,"Paisagem" label QS:Lda,"Landskab" label QS:Lsl,"Krajina" label QS:Lja,"風景" label QS:Lsv,"Landskap" label QS:Lpl,"Pejzaż" label QS:Luk,"Пейзаж" label QS:Lnl,"Landschap" label QS:Les,"Paisaje" label QS:Ltr,"Manzara" label QS:Lfi,"Maisema" label QS:Len,"Landscape" label QS:Lfr,"Paysage" label QS:Lmk,"Предел" label QS:Lru,"Пейзаж", Paul Sawyier, c. 1890-1917. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCumberland Sandstone Glade and BarrensBald Face above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, North Carolina: a bare granite dome rising above forest and a still lake (photochrom print, about 1902). Shown: Bald Face (Big Bald Face) above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, Jackson County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Bald Face from Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, N.C., Detroit Publishing Co. (photochrom print), c. 1902. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestHarvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove 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. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.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. Shown: North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt), a neighboring state.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; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. Public domain. Source record.

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; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - 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 Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

SummerRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland

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; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern 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

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

Shale barrens

Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.

Summer

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 (100)

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

In Virginia 2

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

Elsewhere in the South (55)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
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.
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.
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.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer and winter.
Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
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.
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 (2)

Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.

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 (38)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
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.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
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 - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
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 Virginia

Summer: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.

County or city

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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 Virginia; these are its 3 most characteristic.