Most of the Southeast has exactly one hummingbird, and for a long time that was the whole story. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrives in spring, nests through summer, gathers along the Gulf in autumn, and vanishes across the water.

Then, starting in the 1970s, a handful of stubborn observers noticed something that changed how the entire region thinks about hummingbirds: the birds at their feeders in January were not Ruby-throats at all. They were western species, thousands of miles from where the books said they should be. Today the Southeast has two hummingbird seasons with two almost entirely different casts, and the winter one may be the more interesting.

The Summer Story: One Species

East of Texas, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is effectively the only hummingbird you will see between spring and fall. It is the only species that breeds east of the Mississippi, which makes summer identification refreshingly simple: males have a brilliant ruby gorget over an emerald back; females have a plain grayish-white throat.

Spring arrival. Ruby-throats reach the Gulf Coast in numbers by late February and early March, the earliest hummingbird arrivals anywhere in the eastern United States, then filter northward over the following two months. Males typically arrive about a week ahead of females at any given spot. Have feeders out by mid-February on the Gulf and early March across the rest of the region.

There is a climate wrinkle worth knowing: as their wintering grounds warm, Ruby-throats now leave earlier, and they appear to linger longer along the Gulf Coast afterward, possibly recovering from the crossing.

Fall staging. From August into September, numbers build dramatically as birds from the whole eastern half of the continent funnel south. Feeders in Florida, Louisiana, and coastal Texas can host remarkable concentrations, with dozens of birds jostling at a single yard’s feeders at the peak. They are fattening for the Gulf of Mexico crossing, a nonstop flight of roughly 500 miles, though some take the overland route through Mexico instead.

The Winter Story: Western Vagrants

Here is what makes the Southeast genuinely unusual. If you see a hummingbird at your feeder between November and February, it is very likely not a Ruby-throat. It is probably a western species that should be in Mexico.

Rufous Hummingbird is by far the most common of these winter visitors, and hummingbird banders working the region capture dozens each winter. The Louisiana Winter Hummingbird Project has now recorded eleven species wintering in that state alone, and the full list of western wanderers along the Gulf includes Black-chinned, Calliope, Broad-tailed, Broad-billed, Allen’s, and Anna’s, along with Buff-bellied Hummingbird, a south Texas resident that wanders east along the coast in winter.

Some Ruby-throats do overwinter along the Gulf and the southern Atlantic coast too, so both stories overlap at the edges.

These birds are not lost strays that die off. Many settle at a specific site for several months, and banding has shown that individuals return to the same yards in subsequent years. One Ruby-throat banded in winter in south Louisiana was later recaptured in Massachusetts in summer.

There is a nice piece of geography buried in this. The Rufous drinking from a Louisiana feeder in January very likely bred in the Pacific Northwest the previous summer, which means two of the regions covered on this site are hosting the same individual birds at opposite ends of the year.

For help identifying these unexpected visitors, the article on North American species covers the ones you are most likely to see. Be aware that Rufous and Allen’s are nearly impossible to separate in the field, and even experienced observers often cannot settle it without a bird in the hand.

The Myth That Nearly Buried This Discovery

In the 1970s, homeowners along the Gulf were being told to take their feeders down by a certain date each fall, on the theory that a full feeder would tempt hummingbirds to delay migrating and doom them to the cold. Nobody wanted to be responsible for killing hummingbirds, so most people complied.

A Louisiana birdwatcher named Nancy Newfield doubted it. She had been seeing odd birds in her own yard, including seven immature male Black-chinned Hummingbirds by mid-December in a state with only eight prior records of the species, a report that was met with open disbelief. So she obtained a federal banding permit in 1979 and, working in her own yard after the Ruby-throats had left, banded ten Rufous and nine Black-chinned Hummingbirds in her first winter. The birds were not lingering because of her feeder. They were simply there, and had been all along, unnoticed because everyone had been told to pack up and leave in October.

The science is now settled on the point that started it: a feeder will not stop a hummingbird from migrating. Migration is triggered by day length and genetic programming, not by food supply.

What is not settled is why so many western hummingbirds now winter in the Southeast. Van Remsen, an ornithologist at Louisiana State University, argues the winter population is genuinely growing, and credits suburban gardens and feeders with making survival possible. Bob Sargent, an Alabama bander who learned the craft from Newfield, thinks the birds were wintering here all along and simply went undetected for decades. Both positions are held by people who have spent their lives on the question, and the honest answer is that nobody yet knows.

What This Means for Your Yard

Leave at least one feeder up all winter. In most of the Southeast a feeder will not freeze solid, so there is no practical reason to take it down, and every reason not to. Position it where you can see it at breakfast, since early morning is when hummingbirds are most active. Learn more about nectar recipe and feeders covers mixing and the cleaning routine.

Report what you see. Winter hummingbird records are genuinely useful, and much of what we know about this phenomenon came from ordinary people noticing birds in their own yards. Local Audubon chapters and hummingbird banders welcome reports.

Give them cover. Winter hummingbirds favor yards with evergreen shelter such as camellia, sweet olive, ligustrum, and hollies. A yard that attracts other birds seems to attract winter hummingbirds too, and cover also helps against the cats and hawks that take hummingbirds at feeders.

What to Plant in the Southeast

For the summer Ruby-throats: cardinal flower, scarlet sage, bee balm, trumpet creeper, and coral honeysuckle are all excellent natives.

For the winter visitors, which is where Southeast gardeners have an advantage nobody else does: winter-flowering shrimp plant, cuphea, russelia, firespike, and abutilon all bloom in the cool months and give a wandering Rufous a genuine reason to stay.

Do not use broad-spectrum pesticides, since hummingbirds eat insects and need them for protein. Aim for something that blooms in as many months as possible. The article on designing a garden hummingbirds return to covers bloom succession in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

What hummingbirds live in the Southeast?

In spring and summer, essentially just the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In winter, a surprising variety of western species turn up, most often the Rufous. Eleven species have been recorded wintering in Louisiana alone.

When do hummingbirds arrive in the Southeast?

Ruby-throats reach the Gulf Coast by late February and early March, the earliest arrivals in the eastern United States, then spread north over the next two months.

Should I take my hummingbird feeder down in the fall?

No. Leave at least one up all winter. A feeder cannot delay migration, and you may host a western visitor.

What hummingbird is at my feeder in January?

Most likely a Rufous Hummingbird, the most common western winter visitor to the Southeast, though several other western species are possible.

Do winter hummingbirds come back to the same yard?

Yes. Banding has shown that individual winter hummingbirds return to the same sites in subsequent years.

Will leaving my feeder up keep hummingbirds from migrating?

No. This was disproved decades ago. Migration is driven by day length and genetics, not food availability.

Are winter hummingbirds in the Southeast something new?

That is genuinely disputed. Some researchers argue the winter population is growing as gardens and feeders spread. Others think the birds were always here and simply went unrecorded until people started looking in winter.

Conclusion

The Southeast spent decades believing it had one hummingbird and a firm date to take the feeder down. It turned out to have eleven, and the reason nobody knew was that everyone had stopped looking in October. That is a good argument for leaving a feeder up through the winter, and an even better one for paying attention to what shows up in your own yard. The birds at the January feeder are still teaching people things, and researchers still disagree about what they are teaching.