A lot of birds do mate for life or at the very least stay monogamous, the likes of which include lovebirds, parakeets and around 90% of all other birds out. Hummingbirds on the other hand do not.

Hummingbirds do not mate for life, infact they aren’t even monogamous. within the 2 yearly migration periods most hummers will mate with at least 2 partners a year, if not more. Once they’re done mating both the male and female hummingbirds go their sperate ways. This cycle continues on every year until their life eventually comes to an end.

How Many Mates Does An Hummingbird Have?

Hummingbirds are polygamous in nature therefore, male and female hummers tend to mate with a variety of different suitors throughout their lives, It’s probable that female hummingbirds may have between 3 – 5 partners in the lower side whilst it’s a similar story for the males.

The likelihood of a male and female meeting again between the multiple migration periods won’t be very high, especially taking into account females can have between 1 and 3 broods or clutch periods yearly. If for example a female were to brood shortly after their first, chances are the initial mate wouldn’t be around so another would more than likely take its place.

Furthermore, these mini hovering avians tend to start breeding once they’re a year old. With their life spanning between 3 – 5 years on average, if every female were to have 2 brooding periods every year, matching the number of times hummingbirds (the majority at least) migrate per year, it’s extremely likely that a female will mate with a completely unique bird every time which includes mating with a different hummingbird variant as a whole.

On top of that hummingbirds may even mate with more than 1 partner to make sure the insemination is successful to make it certain that the female hummer lay her eggs in an attempt to welcome a fresh batch of new hummers.

Do Hummingbird Families Stay Together?

No, they do not. Well, this is the case as far as we have observed.

Often what happens is once the male has completed their breeding process, they’ll make their way to another bird to continue on their journey whilst a female will prepare to lay their eggs.

The nest building process and the raising of the fledglings is done by the mother solo, from finding food for the babies to showing them the ropes to survive.

All of this is done before finally moving the offspring on to start their own life as an independent hummingbird.

How Often Do Hummingbirds Mate?

The typical period within which a hummingbird starts mating would be after they’ve migrated to their new summer location so to speak. Females tend to have upto 3 brooding periods per year therefore, they would mate 3 times a year at the top end of their cycle (potentially more to affirm they are inseminated and ready to lay eggs).

Male hummingbirds on the other are likely to mate a few more times than that, especially those who’ve garnered themselves exceptional territory for the occasion.

As males don’t have to create eggs and also to insure the female hummingbird has been inseminated, they probably will mate with more than 1 partner every season. There’s no exact amount detailing this so 1 mate per season is just the lowball estimate.

Do Hummingbirds Mate In Mid-air?

 

No, hummingbirds do not mate in midair. The male hummingbird will put on a spectacular display in front of this potential mate, hovering side to side in front, dive bombing from the sky, singing to them and eventually zooming into the sky with their potential breeding partner.

After the courtship dance has been performed and the female hummer is fully engrossed and accepting of the male hummingbirds advances, both birds will then look for a branch to perch upon and commence. After 3 – 5 seconds the deed will be done and both avians will move on with their lives, one getting ready to raise new baby hummers whilst the other likely making its way to mate with another.

Considering hummingbirds are almost always hovering or flying around, this conclusion does make sense to some degree and who knows some hummers may have mated in midair however, the general procedure is a lot less acrobatic and pretty much a normal and simple process.

Summary

Hummingbirds only amount to 10% of the non monogamous birds out there which makes them among the least likely birds to have a partner for life. Taking into account how the father in this case is as deadbeat as they come and how they are also extremely miniscule for birds, it is very surprising that hummingbirds are polyamorous to the degree we know.

A lot of the feathered species don’t mate for life either, specifically in instances where one party dies and the other stays alive. In this case the living bird may find a new partner so hummingbirds not following suit when it comes to mating for life is very normal in the grand scheme of things.

References

https://journeynorth.org/hummingbirds/resources/article/facts-hummingbird-life-cycle

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/hummingbird-sex.htm

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/02/which-birds-mate-for-life/#:~:text=Around 90% of the world’s,may change each breeding season.&text=Most birds share parenting duties.