It’s a great time for scoring a nice, long look at an oh-so-gorgeous ruby-throated hummingbird.

“A lot of people have them at their feeders now,” said Alexis Powell, an avid birdwatcher and past president of the Jayhawk Audubon Society.

Early September, Powell said, marks the start of hummingbirds’ fall migration, which should continue for four to six weeks.

“Fall migration tends to be more protracted and more abundant than the spring migrations,” he said. “In the fall you’ve got juveniles, immatures and adults passing through. Not all of them make it, of course, so in the spring they tend to be fewer in number.

“And in the spring, there seems to be a lot more urgency — they’re on more of a beeline to where they’re going,” Powell said. “But in the fall, they tend to hang around more.”

A hummingbird gathers nectar from a feeder northeast of Lawrence. The birds' annual migration south has started, treating area residents to hundreds of the tiny ruby-throated visitors.

Powell said this year’s hummingbird numbers appeared to be higher than normal.

“I routinely go out to the Baker Wetlands at this time of year,” Powell said, “and there are definitely a lot more ruby-throats out there now than there have been in the past six years. If you go out there, you’ll see them.”

Ruby-throated hummingbirds passing through Lawrence likely will winter in Central America or along the Gulf Coast. In the spring, they nest throughout the eastern United States and much of southern Canada.

¢More about hummingbirds

Powell encouraged people with a single hummingbird feeder in their yards to add a few more.

“It’ll cut down on the competition,” he said. “Hummingbirds tend to be very competitive.”

Hummingbirds pause for refreshment during their migration south.

A hummingbird gathers nectar from a feeder.

A hummingbird comes in for a landing at a feeder.