Month: March 2009

Some seven different species of hummingbirds have been documented in Oklahoma. They are the following species:the Black-chinned Hummingbird, the Rufous Hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the Calliope Hummingbird, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird, the Anna’s Hummingbird and the Green Violet-eared Hummingbird.

The male hummingbirds will begin arriving in Oklahoma about mid-March and the females begin arriving in early April. The hummingbirds will leave the area around mid-October, but rarely you may have the opportunity to see a hummingbird that will choose to winter over in Oklahoma.

I have a number of relatives that live in Oklahoma and this post was written with all of them in mind.So Donna, Jeanie, Sue and gang I hope you find this post informative and useful to you. I hope that this will help them and anyone else discover the species of hummingbirds which are found in the state of Oklahoma.

The process of molting is when a bird will loose their feathers a few at a time.  This will occur symmetrically or one from each side in order not to affect flight.  The length of the entire process various from either weeks or months depending on the time of year it is occurring and the species of bird.  This process would not be noticeable to the casual birdwatcher.

Hummingbirds will begin to molt between September to November.  It will then take several weeks for each feather to regain its size and shape.

Why is molting necessary?  Molting allows the bird to replace their worn out feathers with new ones.  Feathers are vitally important to the bird.  The feathers help provide weather protection for the bird and in some bird species  (not hummingbirds) the molting process can even help the birds attract a mate.