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

ByScott
9 Comments

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

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

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 Minnesota.

This means that most hummingbirds leave Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota?

Let us know in the COMMENTS section below!

When Do Hummingbirds Return to Minnesota? (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Your email address will not be published.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 *

9 Comments

  1. I live in a suburb of St. Paul, MN.
    Today is Oct. 3 morning temps were in mid 40’s
    I still have flowers hummers like and a feeder. I’m worried because I still have a hummer on my black and blue salvia! Why hasn’t she left. I hope she can still make the trip. And if she can’t go the whole migration distance wouldn’t she attempt to get to a more mild place. 🥲

    Reply

  4. We havent seen a hummingbird in 3 days now in the area 18 miles south of grand rapids Mn. We saved one 4 days ago that we found at 9:00a.m. in the cold wet grass in front of our home. He was very wet. Maybe a juvenile male. In 2 hours he was able to fly away on his own. Hand fed him from small hum bird feeder and gently smoothed him in hands in the sunshine.

    Reply