Hummingbirds undertake remarkable migrations and face welfare challenges from habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and declining native plant availability along their routes.
Individual hummingbirds on migration are at the physiological edge — crossing the Gulf of Mexico requires burning fat reserves accumulated over days of intensive feeding. Any energy deficit from nectar scarcity or pesticide exposure along migration routes can tip the balance from survival to death. The welfare and conservation priority is maintaining continuous corridors of native flowering plants free from insecticides along key migration routes. Gardeners along North American coasts and river valleys can directly contribute to hummingbird welfare by planting native nectar plants and eliminating pesticide use.