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

ByScott
9 Comments

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

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

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 Iowa.

This means that most hummingbirds leave Iowa 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 Iowa 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 Iowa 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 Iowa 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 Iowa?

Let us know in the COMMENTS section below!

When Do Hummingbirds Return to Iowa? (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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9 Comments

  3. I’m in sioux city Iowa. we had a couple hummingbirds at our feeder on september 21st will gill up feeders again til we dont see anymore

    Reply