Short answer: hummingbirds reach the Gulf Coast in early March and take about two months to spread north, arriving in the northern states and southern Canada in late April or early May. Out west, Rufous Hummingbirds are already moving up the coast by mid-February, and in parts of California, Arizona and the Pacific Northwest some hummingbirds never leave at all.
Below is the arrival window for every US state and the Canadian provinces, with the date to have your feeder up and when to expect birds to leave in the fall.
How to read this chart
- These are windows, not promises. A first sighting shifts by a week or more from year to year with the weather. Anyone giving you one exact date for a whole state is guessing.
- Hang your feeder about 10 days early. The scouts are males, and they arrive roughly a week ahead of the females. An empty feeder on the day the first male passes through is a yard he does not come back to.
- Big states are split. Texas, Michigan, Nebraska and a dozen others span two different arrival zones. Where that happens the row says so.
Eastern and Central US
Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the species almost everyone east of the Rockies sees.
| State | Species to expect | Typical first arrival | Have your feeder up by | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Ruby-throated | by Mar 15 | Mar 5 | late Sep – Nov |
| Arkansas | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Connecticut | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| Delaware | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Florida | Ruby-throated (some stay all year) | by Mar 15 (north) | Mar 1 | late Sep – Nov |
| Georgia | Ruby-throated | by Mar 15 (south) / early Apr (north) | Mar 10 | late Sep – Oct |
| Illinois | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (south) / Apr 20 (north) | Apr 5 | late Sep – Oct |
| Indiana | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (south) / Apr 20 (north) | Apr 5 | late Sep – Oct |
| Iowa | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| Kansas | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (southeast) | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Kentucky | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Louisiana | Ruby-throated (+ winter visitors) | by Mar 15; feeders visited in late winter | Mar 1 | late Sep – Nov; some stay |
| Maine | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Maryland | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Massachusetts | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| Michigan | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 (south) / May 5 (north + UP) | Apr 20 | Sep – early Oct |
| Minnesota | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Mississippi | Ruby-throated | by Mar 15 | Mar 5 | late Sep – Nov |
| Missouri | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (south) / Apr 20 (north) | Apr 5 | late Sep – Oct |
| Nebraska | Ruby-throated | Apr 14–15 (east) / May 2–3 (west & central) | Apr 10 east / Apr 28 west | to Oct 17–18 (east); Sep 24–26 (west) |
| New Hampshire | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 (south) / May 5 (north) | Apr 20 | Sep – early Oct |
| New Jersey | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (south) / Apr 20 (north) | Apr 5 | late Sep – Oct |
| New York | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| North Carolina | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (north) / mid-Mar (south coast) | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| North Dakota | Ruby-throated | by May 5 (east) | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Ohio | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (south) / Apr 20 (rest) | Apr 5 | late Sep – Oct |
| Oklahoma | Ruby-throated (Black-chinned west) | early – mid Apr | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Pennsylvania | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| Rhode Island | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 | Apr 10 | Sep – early Oct |
| South Carolina | Ruby-throated | mid-Mar (coast) / early Apr (upstate) | Mar 10 | late Sep – Oct |
| South Dakota | Ruby-throated | by May 5 (east) | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Tennessee | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 (north) / late Mar (south) | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Texas | Ruby-throated (east), Black-chinned (central/west) | coastal & east by Mar 15; west from early Mar | Mar 1 | late Sep – Nov; some stay |
| Vermont | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 (south) / May 5 (north) | Apr 20 | Sep – early Oct |
| Virginia | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| West Virginia | Ruby-throated | by Apr 10 | Apr 1 | late Sep – Oct |
| Wisconsin | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 (south) / May 5 (north) | Apr 20 | Sep – early Oct |
Western US
The West is the complicated half: several species, earlier arrivals, and large areas where hummingbirds are present all year.
| State | Species to expect | Typical first arrival | Have your feeder up by | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Rufous | mid-Mar (southeast Alaska) | Mar 10 | Jul – Aug |
| Arizona | Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Costa’s, Rivoli’s, Broad-billed | from early Mar near the Mexican border; Rufous mid-Feb | year-round in southern AZ | varies by species |
| California | Anna’s and Allen’s year-round; Rufous passing through | Rufous from early Feb | keep one up year-round | n/a for resident species |
| Colorado | Broad-tailed | late Apr – early May | Apr 20 | Aug – early Sep |
| Hawaii | No native hummingbirds | — | — | — |
| Idaho | Calliope, Black-chinned, Rufous | mid-Apr | Apr 10 | Aug – Sep |
| Montana | Calliope, Black-chinned, Rufous | late Apr | Apr 20 | Aug – Sep |
| Nevada | Black-chinned, Anna’s | early Apr | Mar 25 | Aug – Sep |
| New Mexico | Black-chinned, Broad-tailed | early Mar (south) – mid-Apr (north) | Mar 1 in the south | Aug – Sep |
| Oregon | Rufous; Anna’s increasingly year-round | Rufous by the end of Feb | Feb 15 | Aug – Sep |
| Utah | Broad-tailed | Not yet verified — see note below | — | Aug – Sep |
| Washington | Rufous; Anna’s in the lowlands | mid-Feb – Mar | Feb 20 | Aug – Sep |
| Wyoming | Broad-tailed | early – mid May | Apr 30 | Aug – Sep |
Canada
| State | Species to expect | Typical first arrival | Have your feeder up by | Typical departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | Ruby-throated, Rufous | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Aug – Sep |
| British Columbia | Rufous, Anna’s | Rufous by early Mar | Feb 25 | Aug – Sep |
| Manitoba | Ruby-throated | by May 5 (south) | Apr 25 | Sep |
| New Brunswick | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Nova Scotia | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Ontario | Ruby-throated | by Apr 20 (south) / May 5 | Apr 20 | Sep |
| Prince Edward Island | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Quebec | Ruby-throated | by May 5 (south) | Apr 25 | Sep |
| Saskatchewan | Ruby-throated | by May 5 | Apr 25 | Sep |
Why your neighbour sees them first
Arrival is driven by latitude, elevation and the season’s weather, not by the calendar. Research using Journey North records found Ruby-throated Hummingbirds now arrive roughly 11 to 18 days earlier than they did in records from 1880–1969, with the smallest shift north of 41°N. Up in the Colorado Rockies the opposite problem has appeared: researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory found Broad-tailed arrival dates have not moved, while the flowers they depend on now bloom about 17 days earlier than in the 1970s.
One state we have not verified yet
Utah is listed as not yet verified on purpose. We could not find a source we trust for a Utah-specific arrival window, and we would rather leave a gap than print a date we made up. It will be filled in as soon as we have one.
Help us replace these estimates with real dates
Every figure on this page comes from published regional data. The better version of this chart is the one built from what people actually see in their own yards. When you spot your first hummingbird of the year, tell us the state and the date — we are building the 2027 map from those reports.
Sources
- National Audubon Society — When to Expect Hummingbirds at Your Feeders and Flowers This Spring
- Avian Report — regional arrival and departure analysis drawing on Cornell Lab of Ornithology range data, eBird records and banding studies
- Journey North — Rufous Hummingbird spring migration records
- Birds of Nebraska – Online, W. R. Silcock and J. G. Jorgensen (Nebraska dates)
- Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (Broad-tailed Hummingbird)
- Courter et al., via Journey North, on shifting arrival dates
Last reviewed: October 2026.