5 species of hummingbirds you can spot in Canada

This is the little guy all cottagers know and love—certainly, all cottagers in eastern Canada. This species is eastern North America’s only breeding hummingbird. Who knew?: a ruby-throat’s legs are so short that it’s terrible at walking, and can only shuffle along for short distances. But ruby-throats, like all hummingbirds, excel at hovering. They can beat their wings 53 times per second.

Unlike many of our other bird species, this hummingbird has actually benefitted from the spread of invasive plants. Invasive flowering plants, experts believe, provided the bird food sources to allow it to stick around the west coast of Canada year-round instead of flying south for the winter. A male Anna's has a gorget that extends over its head. A female has a tiny iridescent gorget. That's unusual: most female hummingbirds have no bling at all.

Lucky cottagers in southern B.C. and Alberta can spot this species in the summer, between April and September. They aren’t the flashiest of the hummingbirds, but males do have an iridescent purple band at the throat. Black-chinned hummingbirds aren't easily drawn to the colour red like other hummingbirds; they prefer to go for the blooms with the freshest nectar.

No other way to say it: these hummingbirds are bullies. They’re one of the smaller hummingbird species, but they’ll scare larger species away from your feeders (they’ve even been known to chase after chipmunks). Rufous hummingbirds breed in B.C., arriving in May but sometimes leaving as early as July. They have one of the longest migration trips of all bird species—at least in relation to body size. One way, rufous hummingbirds fly an equivalent of 78,470,000 body lengths.

This guy is Canada’s smallest hummingbird, at 8 cm (and the smallest bird in North America). Its tail, wings, and bill are all shorter than those of other hummers, and it weighs only as much as a ping pong ball. Look for Calliope hummingbirds between late March and September in B.C. and Alberta, feeding on flowers low to the ground. Cool trivia alert: these birds aren’t named after the musical instrument, they’re named after the Greek muse.