Editing Ruby-throated hummingbird (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==
The breeding habitat is throughout most of the Eastern United States and south-central and southeastern Canada in deciduous and pine forests and forest edges, orchards, and gardens. The female builds a nest in a protected location in a shrub or a tree. Of all hummingbirds in the United States, this species has the largest breeding range.<ref name=Cornell/>

The ruby-throated hummingbird is [[bird migration|migratory]], spending most of the winter in Florida, southern Mexico and Central America,<ref name=Hargrove>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 16351726
| year = 2005
| last1 = Hargrove
| first1 = J. L.
| title = Adipose energy stores, physical work, and the metabolic syndrome: Lessons from hummingbirds
| journal = Nutrition Journal
| volume = 4
| pages = 36
| doi = 10.1186/1475-2891-4-36
| pmc = 1325055
| doi-access = free
}}</ref> as far south as extreme western [[Panama]],<ref name=robinsonetal1996>Robinson ''et al.'' (1996)</ref> and the [[West Indies]]. During migration, some birds embark on a nonstop 900-mile journey across the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and [[Caribbean]] from [[Panama]] or Mexico to the eastern United States.<ref name=Hargrove/> The bird breeds throughout the eastern United States, east of the 100th meridian, and in southern Canada, particularly [[Ontario]], in eastern and mixed deciduous and broadleaved forest.<ref name="Mighigan">{{cite web
  | last1 =Harris  | first1 =M.
  |first2=R.|last2=Naumann|first3=K.|last3=Kirschbaum
  | title =''Archilochus colubris''
  | publisher =University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
  | url =http://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Archilochus_colubris.html
  | access-date = 24 August 2007 }}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ontariohummingbirds.ca/migrationrange_maps.php|title=The Ontario hummingbird project: migration and range maps|publisher=The Ontario Hummingbird Project|date=2013|access-date=23 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403153408/http://www.ontariohummingbirds.ca/migrationrange_maps.php|archive-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> In winter, it is seen mostly in Mexico and Florida.

During migration southward in autumn along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, older male and female birds were better prepared for long-distance flight than first-year birds by having higher body weights and larger fuel loads.<ref name=zenzal>{{Cite journal | last1=Zenzal | first1=Theodore J. Jr. | last2=Moore | first2=Frank R. | date=2016 | title=Stopover biology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (''Archilochus colubris'') during autumn migration | journal=The Auk | volume=133 | issue=2 | pages=237–250 | doi=10.1642/AUK-15-160.1 | doi-access=free }}</ref>