Editing Ruby-throated hummingbird (section)

== Longevity and mortality ==
[[File:Composite-ruby-throated-hummingbird.jpg|thumb|300px|Female ruby-throated hummingbird taking various defensive and evasive actions around a man-made feeder.]]
The oldest known ruby-throated hummingbird to be banded was 9 years and 1 month of age. Almost all hummingbirds of 7 years or more in age are females, with males rarely surviving past 5 years of age. Reasons for higher mortality in males may include loss of weight during the breeding season due to the high energetic demands of defending a territory followed by energetically costly migration.<ref name=Hargrove/>

A variety of animals prey on hummingbirds given the opportunity. Due to their small size, hummingbirds are vulnerable even to [[passerine]] birds and other animals which generally feed on insects. On the other hand, only very swift predators can capture them and a free-flying adult hummingbird is too nimble for most predators. Chief among their predators are the smaller, swifter [[raptor (bird)|raptors]] like [[sharp-shinned hawk]]s, [[Merlin (bird)|merlin]]s, [[American kestrel]]s and [[Mississippi kite]]s as well as [[domestic cat]]s, [[loggerhead shrike]]s and even [[greater roadrunner]]s, all of which are likely to ambush the hummingbird while it sits or sleeps on a perch or are distracted by breeding or foraging activities. Predatory lizards and bird-eating snakes may also prey on the species, especially on its tropical wintering grounds. Even large, predatory [[invertebrate]]s have preyed on ruby-throated hummingbirds, including [[praying mantis]]es (which have been seen to ambush adult hummingbirds at hummingbird feeders on more than one occasion), [[orb-weaver spider]]s, and [[green Darner]]s. [[Blue jay]]s are common predators of nests, as are several other [[corvid]]s in addition to some [[icterid]]s, bats, squirrels and [[chipmunk]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kirschbaum |first=Kari |url=http://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Archilochus%20colubris.html |title=ADW: Archilochus colubris: INFORMATION |publisher=Animaldiversity.org |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rubythroat.org/QuestionsPredators01.html |title=Hummingbirds: Predators 1 |publisher=Rubythroat.org |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/bwdsite/learn/hummingbirds/mantis-hummer.php# |title=Praying Mantis Makes Meal of a Hummingbird &#124; Bird Watcher's Digest |publisher=Birdwatchersdigest.com |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref><ref>Weidensaul, Scott, T. R. Robinson, R. R. Sargent and M. B. Sargent. 2013. ''Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)'', The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.</ref>