Where Do Hummingbirds Go in Winter? Migration Facts

Where do ruby-throated hummingbirds spend the winter?

The ruby-throated hummingbird breeds across eastern North America, from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast. In fall almost the entire population leaves. Its main wintering grounds stretch from southern Mexico, especially the Yucatán Peninsula and the Pacific and Gulf lowlands, through Central America to extreme western Panama.

Small numbers also winter in southern Florida, along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas and on some Caribbean islands. On the wintering grounds the birds live in tropical dry forest, scrub, forest edges, gardens and farmland with flowering trees, and they molt into fresh feathers there before flying north again.

Why do hummingbirds migrate?

Hummingbirds do not leave because of the cold itself. They leave because their food disappears. A hummingbird needs a steady supply of nectar and small insects every day, and in a northern winter flowers stop blooming and flying insects vanish.

The urge to migrate is triggered mainly by changing day length and the bird’s internal clock. In late summer hummingbirds begin to eat far more than usual and build up fat, a state called hyperphagia. This is why a feeder left up in fall does not stop healthy hummingbirds from migrating. For the wider picture, see why do birds migrate?

When do hummingbirds leave and return?

Adult male ruby-throats are the first to go, starting in late July and peaking in August. Females and the year’s young follow from August into September, and stragglers can still pass through the Gulf states in October. Young birds make the first trip alone, with no parent to guide them, so the route is largely inborn.

In spring the order reverses. The first birds reach the Gulf Coast in late February and March, the central United States in April, and southern Canada and New England in late April and May. Males usually arrive first to claim territories.

Do hummingbirds really fly across the Gulf of Mexico?

Yes. Many ruby-throated hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single nonstop flight of up to about 800 km (500 mi), mostly between the Yucatán Peninsula and the coasts of Louisiana, Florida and Texas. The crossing can take around 18–22 hours, with no chance to feed or drink.

To make it, the birds fatten up first. A ruby-throat that normally weighs about 3 g (0.1 oz) can nearly double its weight with fat, which it burns almost completely during the flight. Research on migrants along the Gulf Coast found that experienced adults carry larger fuel loads than first-year birds.

Not every bird crosses the water. Many, especially in fall, follow the coastline around the Gulf through Texas and eastern Mexico. Headwinds and storms over the Gulf can be deadly, so the route a bird takes depends partly on its fat reserves and the weather.

Which hummingbirds stay in the United States in winter?

A few hummingbirds can be seen in the US all winter:

• Anna’s hummingbird lives year-round along the Pacific Coast from southern British Columbia to Baja California and in parts of Arizona. It survives frosts and even snow by finding winter flowers, insects and feeders and by using torpor on cold nights.
• Rufous hummingbirds and a handful of other western species turn up every winter in small numbers in the Southeast, especially along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. Banding has shown that some return to the same yards year after year.
• Buff-bellied hummingbirds live in southern Texas and some wander east along the Gulf Coast in winter.
• Costa’s hummingbirds winter in the deserts of southern California and Arizona.

Any hummingbird seen in the Northeast or Midwest in late fall or winter is worth a careful look: it is more likely to be a rufous or another western vagrant than a late ruby-throat.

The rufous hummingbird’s record journey

The rufous hummingbird makes one of the longest migrations of any bird for its size. It breeds farther north than any other hummingbird, up to southern Alaska and the Yukon, and winters mainly in Mexico. The one-way trip is about 6,300 km (3,900 mi).

Its route is a giant loop. In spring it flies north along the Pacific Coast, following the early blooms, and in mid- to late summer it travels south through the Rocky Mountains, feeding on wildflowers in high meadows. Measured in body lengths, its journey is even longer than the Arctic tern’s, the champion featured in our list of the longest animal migrations.

Myths about hummingbird migration

Myth: Hummingbirds hitch rides on geese. This old legend has no evidence behind it. Canada geese migrate on a different schedule and along different routes from ruby-throats, and no one has ever documented a hummingbird riding a goose.

Myth: Feeders keep hummingbirds from leaving. Migration timing is set by day length and instinct. Hummingbirds seen late in fall are usually young birds or migrants from farther north passing through, not birds lured into staying by feeders.

Fact: They migrate alone. Hummingbirds do not travel in flocks. Each bird flies its own route, mostly by day, and refuels at flowers along the way. On cold nights they may also save energy with torpor, as explained in how do hummingbirds sleep?