When to Put Out Hummingbird Feeders? [State by State Guide]

Hummingbirds love nectar and sugar water and if you put a feeder (see our top 10 favourites here!) in your garden for them, they’ll enjoy coming to feed.

The best time to put out your hummingbird feeders will depend on where you live. In some southern areas of the country you’ll be able to see them all year round. In central states they will start to come from mid March and leave in late summer or early fall. But, further north they may not get there until mid to late April.

So based on your location, what time of year do you put out your hummingbird feeders? Here’s a breakdown of when you should have your feeders out for each state.

Which State Do You Live In?

Check your state in the table below to see when you should be putting out your feeders.

Which Hummingbirds Arrive When?

Check out the following table that tells you which hummingbird species you’re likely to see in your state first and when.

Prepare Your Feeder

Before you put your feeder out, you need to prepare it properly. It should have been cleaned before you stored it away, but check it and give it a clean before you put it up.

Give it a good soak in hot water and let it dry thoroughly. Then check it over to make sure everything is there and that the hummingbirds will be able to get to the nectar. When you’re happy it’s clean and dry, you can place it in the garden.

Sugar water should be carefully prepared. You can purchase it ready made, but some of these mixtures contain red dye and this can be harmful to the hummers. It’s also much more enjoyable watching them eating something you’ve made yourself. You don’t need to color the water: just add red ribbons to the feeder to attract the hummingbirds.

You can prepare a larger batch of sugar water as it can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The best recipe is one cup of sugar to 4 cups of water. Don’t use honey, artificial sweeteners, brown sugar or raw sugar. The best sugar to use is either cane or beet sugar.

Bring the water to the boil, then remove from the heat and stir the sugar in straight away. When it has all dissolved, leave it to cool and you have lovely sugar water ready for your hummingbirds.

Prepare Your Garden

Hummingbirds have excellent memories, so if they came to your garden last year, they’ll remember that you offered them sugar water and come back for more. However, if you put your feeder out too late, they won’t see it and will instead go and look for a new territory.

The feeder should be in the open so they can see it as they fly over, and in an area of the garden which is not too busy or noisy.

You still need to make sure your garden is welcoming as well. Hummingbirds will look for flowers that have a high nectar content and ones with deep tubular blooms. Hummers have no sense of smell and are more attracted by color, particularly the color red.

Red flowers will encourage them into your garden and so you should plant these with other flowers that provide plenty of nectar. It’s a good idea to plant a mix of early and late bloomers so the hummingbirds will have plenty of nectar to take them through summer and into fall when they leave again.

Remember that these birds can be very territorial and if you want to attract more than one hummingbird, you will need plenty of room in your garden. They will also need trees to build their nests in and they prefer those that are native to the area.

If you provide easy to find nesting material there’s a good chance they’ll use it to nest in your garden. They prefer moss, lichen, leaves, small bits of bark and spider silk or cotton fibers.

Look For Clues Before The Hummers Arrive

If you look out and see a hummingbird in your garden, it may be too late to set up your feeder, so look for clues that can remind you that they’re on their way.

If you want to know when they are likely to come to your area, ask locally. There will be local bird or wildlife groups who can tell you which species of hummingbirds are more likely to visit you and when. This can help a great deal in preparing for their visit.

You can also check the tables above to give you a good idea of when to expect them in your garden.

Here are a few things you can look our for to ensure you’re ready for arriving hummingbirds:

• It might seem obvious, but pay attention to those first signs of spring. As you see plants begin to bloom and trees showing signs of blossoming, you should think about cleaning up and preparing your feeder.
• Other birds can also give you a clue about when hummingbirds might start to arrive. Once again a local group can tell you which birds to look out for, but warblers and buntings are two which can signal that migration is underway.
• Keep a journal and make a note every year of when you see your first hummingbird. This may vary slightly but it will give you an excellent reference. Hummers are very predictable when they migrate, so your journal should be accurate within a few days.

The best time to try to put your feeder out is about 2 weeks before you think the hummingbirds are due to arrive. This means you can catch any hummers which might come back a bit earlier. It’s better to put your feeder out early and replace the sugar water because it’s not used, than risk missing out on feeding them altogether.

It has been known for hummingbirds to arrive before flowers are in full bloom, and this is when your early feeder could be a lifeline. They depend on sugar, so if you provide a reliable source, they know they can feed when they need to – and that’s several times every hour.

However, if the nights are still cold and the nectar might freeze, take the feeder in at night and replace it first thing in the morning.

Maintaining Your Feeder

Now that your feeder is out and filled with nectar, you need to maintain it to ensure that the hummingbirds feed from it throughout their visit. They start to head back south during late summer to early fall and they will need a regular supply of nectar while they are visiting your garden.

The feeder should be taken apart and cleaned at least once a week. Don’t use hard cleaners or strong bleach, and rinse all the parts thoroughly to get rid of any soap residue. Remove all remaining sugar water and pour boiling water through the feeding ports to clean out any build up of nectar.

The sugar water should be replaced every few days, even if it has not been used. Older nectar can start to go moldy quickly, particularly if the weather is warm. The birds will not touch moldy or old nectar, so it’s important to keep them constantly supplied with fresh sugar water.

If there is still nectar in the feeder, don’t top it up. Pour it out and fill the feeder up with fresh nectar. If the water already in the feeder is starting to go moldy, it will affect the fresh water you add. Mold can be harmful to hummingbirds, so always be aware of any discoloration of the water.

Hummingbirds also don’t like water full of dead insects so if you see this, pour it out and refill it the feeder. Ants can be a problem so add a moat to your feeder if it doesn’t already have one, and make sure this is topped up with water. In warmer weather the water in the moat can evaporate away very quickly.

At the end of the hummingbird season, take your feeder down and give it a good clean before you pack it safely away for next year.