First Hummingbird Of The Season Spotted In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — The first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season was spotted in Fairfield as the birds continue to migrate north, Wild Birds Unlimited said in a Facebook post Thursday.

"Hooray! It's on!" the hobby store wrote.

The hummingbird species — the only kind you can spot in the United States east of the Great Plains — leave North America in fall and winter in Mexico or Costa Rica or Panama before moving back north in the spring, according to Audubon.

In the spring and summer, ruby-throated hummingbirds, which can be a mix of black, green, red, tan, or white, can be spotted sipping nectar from flowers in open woods and gardens all over the eastern half of the United States.

Elsewhere in Connecticut, hummingbirds have already been spotted this season in several other parts of the state, with post popping up south between New Haven and New London.

Want to give your backyard hummingbirds a special treat to encourage them to become frequent visitors?

A popular hummingbird food is a mixture of four parts water and one part sugar. You can use hot water to dissolve the sugar before cooling.

"It's important to keep your hummingbird food fresh, and this time of year just fill your feeder half way ... and keep unused hummingbird food refrigerated,"Wild Birds Unlimited Fairfield said in their post Thursday.