Yes, adult male hummingbirds do migrate first. This is so they can first take over their own territory within which they will eventually court the female hummingbirds once they have migrated as well.

However, juvenile males migrate at the same time as females and juvenile females the first year they’re alive so technically it’s only after the first year when males will start migrating first.

Why Do Male Hummingbirds Migrate First?

Male hummingbirds migrate first for a number of reasons whether over food, territory or just down to females having more responsibilities.

I’ll go over these points in a bit more detail below.

1. Territory And Food Source

They leave before the females and the juvenile hummers so they can distinguish their territory in the new terrain as well as get a head start in gathering and consuming flower as they bloom.

Male hummingbirds will consume nectar whilst journeying south along with once they’ve reached their destination.

2. Juveniles And Females Need To Bulk

Juvenile hummingbirds leave at a later time than older hummingbirds as they will need to effectively prepare for their first journey outside their birthplace. As a result these little hummers bulk up within the weeks that adult male hummers start to make way to their new destinations.

Females will leave around the same time as the juveniles as in most cases they would need to bulk up more to make up for the differences in size between themselves and males. Female hummingbirds are on average heavier than male hummingbirds after all.

3. Responsibilities As A Mother

Female hummingbirds may have only just finished raising the newly hatched juveniles and realistically can only prep for migration after the juveniles become independent.

This would also be another reason most male hummingbirds can leave earlier as they don’t play any part in raising newborns. As a result they can leave far earlier whilst females may still need to raise the little baby hummingbirds until they’re able to fly and fend for themselves.

It can take 1 – 1.5 months on average for baby birds to become independent so, from incubating the egg untll these baby hummers can do their own thing requires a significant amount of a mother hummingbirds time.

Breeding is often at its peak around mid May which is why the 1 – 1.5 months of raising the newborns and then the need to bulk up before migrating does will cause a discrepancy in migration times.

After all mother hummingbirds are known to be great mothers sticking through thick and thin to make sure their newborn don’t die but, develop the necessary skills to survive

How Much Sooner Do Male Hummingbirds Migrate?

Male hummingbirds leave anywhere from a week to 1.5 months before females or juveniles.

Male hummingbirds will migrate around late July whilst a female and juvenile hummingbirds can migrate anywhere from early August till mid September which again would be down the responsibilities of the females.

furthermore, as this would be first migration for a lot of juveniles, they will migrate a little later than the others too.

Do Male Hummingbirds Always Migrate First?

Not in all cases. Although adult male hummingbirds will migrate first, male juveniles will not as they’re adjusting to the world and as a result need to bulk up more before migrating for the first time.

Hummingbirds don’t start prepping for breeding until they’re a year old therefore, they will first need to adjust to this life of there’s without the natural instincts of needing to find territory for the purpose of courting female hummer before bringing a new batch of hummingbirds into the world.

Will Male Hummingbirds Migrate With Other Birds?

Hummingbirds as a whole a solitary migraters. They will generally cover the 500 – 3000 mile journey down alone.

The main reason to fly solitarily is so they can feed when ever necessary due to their insane metabolism, to stay low to the ground in order to hidden from potential predators

With that being said if they choose to do so, flying in mixed flocks isn’t completely out of the ordinary as some hummingbirds have been seen migrating in these groups.

Summary

As long as a hummingbird is male, isn’t extremely young or hasn’t suffered from a unforeseen freak accident, they will almost always migrate first, before other juveniles and other female hummingbirds.

Territory and food supply are both important factors for why males leave earlier but, the most prominent reason for their earlier departure isn’t completely down to their actions but due to female hummingbirds needing to raise birds would have just hatched, which usually lasts 1.5 months before the female can bulk for their own journey.

References

https://www.birdsadvice.com/when-do-hummingbirds-migrate-south/

https://abcbirds.org/blog/do-hummingbirds-migrate/#:~:text=Contrary to popular myth, hummingbirds,common North American hummingbirds below.