Bird #145 — Ruby-throated Hummingbird

archilochus (from archi-, first in importance, and lochos, an ambush) colubris (South American Indian name for these birds)

Saturday, May 10, 1980 — 12:15 pm

Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas

Petit Jean State Park covers the top of a plateau that rises abruptly out of the Arkansas River valley.  The mountain is covered with oak/pine woods and is cut by numerous canyons and hollows.  My wife and I were walking through the trees that line the river on top of the mountain.  We spotted this male Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched on a branch of a small tree not far from the water.

Later, we saw a male hovering in front of some tubular red flowers.  As we approached, it flew past us and landed on a branch about 20 feet away.  Its throat appeared black except in direct sunlight.

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