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

ByScott
11 Comments

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

At the end of every summer, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (the only common species in the state) depart Indiana 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 Indiana?

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 Indiana.

This means that most hummingbirds leave Indiana by the end of August or early September. By mid-September, almost all birds are gone, and they won’t return again until spring.

But keep your eyes open for any hummingbirds that started their migration late. It’s not uncommon to see a straggler passing through Indiana towards the end of September, especially if they started their migration from much higher north!

I’m guessing that the reason you wanted to know when hummingbirds leave Indiana 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 Indiana 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 Indiana?

Let us know in the COMMENTS section below!

When Do Hummingbirds Return to Indiana? (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.

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11 Comments

  1. Had two hummingbirds here yesterday 10-3-2024. The next day, didn’t see them. I’m assuming that they left to head south. I usually leave my feeders up till the end of October for stragglers. Was surprised to see them here till October. Can’t wait to see them again in spring. We put our feeders back up in the spring around April 23rd here in southern Indiana.

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  2. September 24, 2024
    I’ve not seen them leave this early in September, usually here till mid October. I just saw 1 about a week ago and it was a new one. I was thrilled to see it! I leave my feeder out till a week into November. 2 years ago, I had 1 on the 2nd day of November and couldn’t believe it. I was thankful that I continued to leave it out till a little past November!!! There are stragglers. I’m in Central eastern Indiana.

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  4. We have seen hummingbirds twice this morning and today is October 7.
    Thinking they should have been gone already. We are in Valparaiso, Indiana. The temp was 43 degrees this morning.

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  5. October 3 rd, 2023 7:30 am. We still have quite a few hummingbirds on our flowers. We enjoy watching them 

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  6. I have also had a lot of hummingbirds at our feeders this summer.. the last two days I have only seen two.. I don’t want to take my feeders down too early.. thank you for the information

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  7. This has been the most enjoyable year for us, we have never had as many hummingbirds as we have had this year. There are still a few at the feeders today. I hate to see them all go, but hope that each and every one has a safe trip and look forward to seeing them again next year.

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  9. Still have 2 hummingbirds hitting my feeder. Don’t seem to be fighting as much, so I’m assuming I’m leaving them with enough sugar water for them not to be too hungry or angry. Surprised they’re still here.

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  10. I had so many hummingbirds this year they are such a pleasure to watch, I have feeders hanging on the outside of my porch windows . I’ve noticed some have already gone hope they all come back next year and bring their friends I really love them

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