When Hummingbirds Actually Arrive in Each State

Hummingbird arrival tracks latitude closely across the United States: Ruby-throated Hummingbirds reach the Gulf Coast states by early March, spread through the mid-Atlantic and Midwest during April, and don't reach Maine, Minnesota, or North Dakota until early-to-mid May — a ten-week wave moving north at roughly the pace of spring itself.

The table below gives the primary migratory hummingbird for all 49 U.S. jurisdictions with USGS Breeding Bird Survey coverage — the Lower 48 states plus Washington, D.C. — alongside a modeled arrival window for that species. Three species do almost all of the work: Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the primary species in 37 of the 49, Black-chinned Hummingbird leads across 10 western states, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird takes over in two high-plains states, South Dakota and Wyoming.

When do hummingbirds arrive in your state?

The headline comparison is the cleanest one: Ruby-throated Hummingbirds reach the Gulf Coast by early March, but the same species doesn't arrive in Maine or Minnesota until early-to-mid May — a ten-week spread for one bird, depending entirely on where you live.

Why the ten-week head start on the coast?

Line the arrival windows up against each state's latitude and the pattern is close to a straight line. Florida and Louisiana, both centered around 28–31°N, get their Ruby-throated Hummingbirds by early-to-mid March. Move up to the Carolinas and Tennessee, around 35–36°N, and arrival slips to early April. By the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, near 39–40°N, it's late April. By the time you reach Minnesota and North Dakota, above 45°N, the wait stretches to mid-May. Run the math across the full range and it works out to roughly three to four days later for every additional degree of latitude — a fairly steady clip for a bird crossing the entire eastern half of the continent under its own power, at a few dozen miles a day.

Group all 49 by arrival window and two months do most of the work: late April and early May each claim 12 states, so almost half the country gets its hummingbirds within the same three-week span in mid-spring. Only two states, Florida and Louisiana, see their first birds before mid-March, and only four — Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Washington — wait past the end of April into mid-May.

Which hummingbird will you actually see?

For most of the country, the question has a simple answer. East of the Rockies, Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only breeding hummingbird species almost anyone will see at a feeder — it's the primary species in 37 of the 49 jurisdictions tracked here, from the Gulf Coast north to the Canadian border. West of the Rockies and across the Great Basin, Black-chinned Hummingbird takes over as the default migrant in 10 states, from Arizona and New Mexico up through Washington State. Two high-plains states, South Dakota and Wyoming, sit in Broad-tailed Hummingbird territory instead — a mountain species that breeds at higher elevation than either of the others. Diversity peaks at the southern edge of the West: Arizona and California each host six of the ten species in this dataset, more than any other state, though only Black-chinned is common enough on Breeding Bird Survey routes to count as either state's primary species.

Do any hummingbirds skip the migration entirely?

Six states in this dataset get a bonus: a hummingbird that never really leaves. Anna's Hummingbird has become a genuine year-round resident across Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, helped along by mild Pacific winters and the spread of winter-blooming garden plants and backyard feeders. On the Texas Gulf Coast, Buff-bellied Hummingbird plays the same role. In all six states, the arrival window in the table describes the migratory species passing through or breeding, not the resident — feeders in those states are a year-round commitment, not a seasonal one.

When should you put your feeder out?

The standard advice — hang a feeder about one to two weeks before your state's typical arrival — holds up well against this table, because these are averages built to plan around, not forecasts for a specific week. A state's typical window is a starting point, not a guarantee: nectar sources, spring weather, and individual birds all vary from year to year. If you want the exact date they show up at your own feeder rather than a modeled statewide figure, keep a simple backyard bird list — a season or two of your own dates will beat any state-level model for your specific yard. For the fuller picture of who else is moving through on the same spring schedule, the ranked, survey-based bird lists for Maine and Texas show how hummingbird timing fits into the wider migration picture.