When Do the Hummingbirds Return
Each year the neighbor lady asks me this question. For her, I finally just said; watch for my feeders to go up. You’ll know 🙂 For the rest of you, you will just have to keep reading.
How Do I Know When the Hummingbirds Will Return
Ok, you are not my next door neighbor. You can’t just watch for when I hang my feeders. I use several methods to tell when the hummingbirds will return.
Writing the Dates in a Notebook
I have been tracking the date the hummingbirds returned to my feeders in Green Bay, WI over the past four years. The dates fall during the first week of May. Now, I know from watching migration maps that pretty much every Southern state has their hummingbirds return during February and March. Which happens to be much earlier than me.
Tracking the dates allows me to get my feeders up a few days ahead of schedule. This way when the hummingbirds arrive, there is food. The birds remember where food was last year. No food? They move on.
Using Online Sources
Use an online tracking source. If you want to track your state, please see the migration map here.
Make Sure Your Feeder is Clean
If you haven’t located your hummingbird feeders, you better get to it soon. It is important to wash your feeders to kill any lurking bacteria. Please do this a few days before you plan to refill your feeders, it gives the feeder time to dry properly before filling them.
New to Attracting Hummingbirds?
I have plenty of blog articles on this site to help you attract hummingbirds to your yard and feeders. Including what flowers to plant, recipe to feed the hummingbirds, how to get them to nest in your yard, and plenty more.
