Here’s when hummingbirds leave Alabama! (to migrate south)

ByScott
6 Comments

Unfortunately, hummingbirds don’t live in Alabama year-round. 🙁

At the end of every summer, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (the only common species in the state) depart Alabama to migrate south to southern Mexico and Central America. They spend the winter here in the warm weather before coming back next spring!

So when exactly do hummingbirds leave Alabama?

when do hummingbirds leave

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds start their southward migration once their breeding season ends. It’s believed that they can sense the changes in the reduced number of daylight hours, flowers, and insects, which triggers their instinct to leave Alabama.

This means that most hummingbirds leave Alabama in early to mid-September!

But these are just the birds that choose Alabama as their breeding grounds. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can be found from Alabama all the way into Canada.

And many of the hummingbirds that are migrating south to Central America and southern Mexico must pass through Alabama. So it’s likely that you will see hummingbirds through much of October as these northern birds are making their way south.

I’m guessing that the reason you wanted to know when hummingbirds leave Alabama is that you were curious when you can put away your feeders for the winter?

Here’s what I always recommend:

Don’t take down your feeders until you haven’t seen a hummingbird for TWO weeks.

hummingbirds leaving

Once that happens, you can be very confident that almost all the hummingbirds in Alabama have left for the year!

Trust me; you definitely don’t want to take away the nectar in your yard too early. Hummingbirds migrate a LONG way and need lots of ENERGY, which you can hopefully provide to them.

When do you normally see the last hummingbirds leave Alabama?

Let us know in the COMMENTS section below!

When Do Hummingbirds Return to Alabama? (Get your feeders ready!)

Scott is the creator of Bird Watching HQ. His goal is to inspire you to care more about the birds and wildlife in YOUR backyard. Over the past 5 years, he has been focused on improving the habitat in his own yard by doing things like adding native plants, not using pesticides, etc. He is happy to report that over 50 species of birds have now been seen on his 1.5-acre property (that's in a suburban neighborhood). Learn more about Scott on his About page. And make sure to check out his LIVE bird cameras.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

6 Comments

  1. It’s November 23rd and I still have a female feeding every day. We went on vacation for two weeks, got home November 19. I knew she was still here before we left, so I left fresh food for her before we left. She’s still here. Maybe I’ll be feeding her all winter? I’ve never had one stay so late into fall before.

    Reply

  2. It is October 20, 2023 and I live in Montgomery County and I have one that is feeding everyday. I will leave mine up until the end of the month.

    Reply

  3. I saw four hummers last week (1-7 Oct) and will leave my feeder up till the end of Oct. I live in Barbour County. We sometimes get those late Northern stragglers coming through

    Reply

  4. I have had 4 hummingbirds all summer. I still have 2 and just had to refill my feeder this morning on October 1st. I live in N. AL. I will miss them when they leave.

    Reply

  5. It’s August 22 and my 15+ hummingbird regulars have disappeared drastically! I took the 4 feeders down yesterday and scrubbed them in case that was partly the reason. Am I doing something wrong to scare them away? I miss the sounds of them missing my head by a foot or 2 and the sounds of their wings slapping each other!

    Reply

    1. September 24, 2023, Northern Bama… and I have 2-3 hummers still on the feeder. These are probably from the north as the showed up 2 weeks ago. Gonna keep it up until mid October. Or two weeks after last sighting, as advised in the article.

      Reply