 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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0.863 (0.335 - 1.38)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were documented in 243 atlas squares concentrated largely in the Boreal Transition and Aspen Parkland ecoregions, as well as parts of the Moist Mixed Grassland. Nearly absent from the Cypress Upland, only one observation was made there during the breeding season. Away from forest edges they were often found taking advantage of yards, especially those equipped with hummingbird feeders. Although Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are not well-surveyed through point counts, they were detected on 47 point counts in 36 atlas squares, evenly split between in-person counts and bioacoustic recordings, in-part thanks to the characteristic buzzing of their wingbeats.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Ruby-throated Hummingbird, widespread in the mixedwood and deciduous forests of eastern North America, is Saskatchewan's only regularly occurring hummingbird. People love watching the male flash his iridescent gorget (patch of coloured feathers on the throat or upper breast). After migration has peaked, males aggressively defend their breeding and feeding territories, chasing rivals away and using their pendulum flight to mark boundaries. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds breed across the south of the prairie provinces and eastern Canada and throughout the eastern US. They winter from southern Mexico to Panama, often migrating both spring and fall over the Gulf of Mexico.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds occupy a variety of woodland types, most commonly the outer edge of aspen or birch stands. They range over fields, brush, roadways, and wetlands, taking nectar at flowers and hawking insects like a flycatcher. Hummingbirds frequent gardens, readily using caragana, delphinium, honeysuckle, and petunia. They obtain sap and insects from tree trunks and sapsucker drillings, following and sometimes even chasing the sapsucker.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are fairly common summer residents in the southern boreal forest, parkland, and Cypress Hills. Except during migration, they are rare on the prairies. At Saskatoon, May Day counts in the first 20 years averaged 0.5 birds per count; in the second 20-year interval, the number had risen to 2.3.
Original text by Don Johnston and Dallas Fairburn. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=RTHU&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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