I've heard many people tell me that they haven't seen any hummingbirds or that they are gone, and they are devastated. I first experienced this last year. I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I embarked on a journey to find out all that I could.

Many parts of the United States are breeding grounds for hummingbirds -- particularly Ruby Throated hummingbirds. Depending on when they first arrive in various areas, and what the latitude of your part of the country is, you may not be seeing hummingbirds because they are nesting.

Males are always the first hummingbirds to land on U.S. soil. The migration begins anywhere from the end of February to early in March. For me, usually by around the middle of March or so, depending on the weather, I can expect to see the first hummingbirds of the season. The males will establish a habitat and hang around for a while. Generally, within about ten days to two weeks, the females will arrive. For a brief time, you may see a considerable number of hummingbirds at your feeders. If you live in the south as I do, the number of hummingbirds you see regularly at your feeder is directly correlated to the amount of wildflowers that are blooming in the area. For this part of Texas, the determining factor is usually how much rain we've had over the winter. Folks that have in ground sprinkler systems and that use the sprinklers regularly throughout the winter generally have a greater abundance of wildflowers.

I've noticed that most often, I see male hummingbirds coming to my feeders. That's not to say that females don't use them. The mating habits of hummingbirds are unique. They are somewhat promiscuous creatures. They don't have monogamous long term relationships like mourning doves, for example. The mating habits of hummingbirds are unpredictable. Males mate with females who show up where the males have established habitats. Generally, during the mating season, which begins in early May for the middle part of the country females aren't seen often if at all. Female hummingbirds -- particularly female Ruby Throated hummingbirds, like to establish nesting areas in secluded wetlands. They also don't like to build their nests in male feeding territories. I guess they are concerned about the potential for male aggressiveness. For that reason, during the nesting period, females don't typically come to feeders.

The nesting period lasts for roughly a month. After the chicks hatch, female hummingbirds still won't come to feeders. Because the baby chicks need protein to grow, the female hummingbird will spend her time searching for food to feed her babies. She will devote her time to catching small bugs and spiders which she feeds to the baby chicks. At the same time, the absence of male Ruby Throats may be explained by an abundance of blooming wildflowers. So check to see if the wildflowers in your part of the country are bursting forth with blooms. If that's the case, that's probably why your hummingbirds aren't around.

As chicks mature and are ready to leave their nests, you can expect to see double the number of hummingbirds you had previously seen at your feeders. You can identify immature hummingbirds in a number of ways. The most obvious is if they open their beak for long enough for you to peek inside. When you do, you will see a yellowish area around the perimeter of the beak. Other ways to identify immature hummingbirds are the relative lack of feathers or an appearance that makes them look as though they are shedding feathers. There may be a strange appearance to the top of their heads as well. Finally, their color will not be nearly as vivid as that of mature hummingbirds.

The next time you start fretting about the absence of hummingbirds in your garden, sit back and relax and remind yourself that they are probably nesting, and when the nesting period is over and the baby chicks can leave the nest, you will see twice as many hummingbirds as you formerly did.