This is bird note.

Don't be fooled by the gentle whoring sound of a hummingbird in flight.

This male roofless hummingbird performs elegant and aggressive courtship displays to defend his territory,

and he may travel hundreds of miles to find a mate.

In the spring, Rufus hummingbirds journey up the Pacific coast from Mexico to the

northwestern corner of the U.S. Some go even as far north as Alaska.

That's almost a thousand miles one way,

for a bird measuring just under four inches, beak to tail,

making this one of the longest migrations of any bird relative to body length.

But after completing one journey, the hummingbirds have to prepare for another.

As fall approaches, they sip nectar and catch insects to pack on fat that will power their passage back to the tropics, this time taking the scenic room over the Rocky Mountains.

But not all hummingbirds of the same species migrate at the same time.

This male Rufus hummingbird in the Pacific Northwest gets out of town early. He leaves the breeding grounds as soon as mid-June. Females stay

behind to finish their nesting duties before heading south a week or two after the males. and their grown children trail after them in August.

For Bird Note, I'm Mark Bramhill.