Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
Flight call description A soft, squeaky "tchwt", often doubled or repeated in a series.
Fig.1. Florida April 26, 1989 (Lang Elliott).
Bird in flight at feeder.
Examples
Diurnal calling sequences:
1. Florida April 26, 1989 (Lang Elliott). Bird in flight at feeder.
2. New Jersey August 18, 2001 (MO). Adult male in flight at feeder.
3. Louisiana February 10, 2002 (Daniel F. Lane). Immature male perched with Tufted Titmouse singing in the background.
4. New Jersey August 15, 2001 (MO). Bird in flight at feeder.
Similar species See Black-chinned and Rufous Hummingbirds.
Behavior Diurnal and nocturnal migrant. Gives flight call regularly while perched and in flight during the day. Birds in migration flight may be mostly silent. Not known to call at night.
Spectrographic description The lower frequency band was measured for duration and frequency characteristics. Five calls were measured from two individuals and two calls from another bird. Each individual's average measurements were then compiled to produced the following average parameters for the three individuals. The average call duration was 20.5 (18.4-21.6) mS. The lower band had an average high frequency of 2.7 (2.5-3.0) kHz and an average low frequency of 1.4 (1.3-1.45) kHz.
Discussion Male calls average higher and buzzier than female calls (Howell, 2001).