When to Put Out Hummingbird Feeders

The rule most experienced feeders follow: hang your feeder about two weeks before the first hummingbirds are expected in your area. For most of the United States that means somewhere between late February and early May, depending on how far north you are.

Hanging it early costs you almost nothing. Hanging it late costs you the first arrivals of the season — the ones that are hungriest and most likely to establish your yard as a stop for the rest of the summer.

Why two weeks early

Spring migration is not a single wave. The first birds through are usually adult males scouting territory ahead of the females, and they arrive tired, thin, and looking for reliable food. A yard that already has fresh nectar when they pass through is a yard they remember.

There is also nothing to lose. An unvisited feeder in March is a small chore — you will change the nectar every five or six days in cool weather, which is barely any work — and the payoff is being on the map from day one instead of week three.

Rough arrival windows by region

These are general windows for ruby-throated hummingbirds, the species that covers most of the eastern United States. Local weather shifts them year to year, sometimes by a couple of weeks.

Region	Typical first arrivals	Hang feeder
Gulf Coast, South Florida, South Texas	Late February	Mid-February
Deep South (GA, AL, MS, LA)	Early to mid March	Late February
Carolinas, Tennessee, Arkansas	Mid to late March	Early March
Mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, Kansas	Early to mid April	Late March
Great Lakes, New England, Upper Midwest	Late April to mid May	Mid April
Southern Canada	Mid to late May	Early May

West of the Rockies is a different picture. Anna’s hummingbirds are year-round residents through much of coastal California and the Pacific Northwest, so feeders there often stay up all twelve months. Rufous hummingbirds move north along the coast starting in February and March, earlier than most people expect.

Check the live map, not the calendar

The single most useful thing you can do is watch where the birds actually are this year rather than relying on a table.

Two long-running projects track this from user-submitted sightings and update through the season:

Journey North — maps first-arrival reports across North America
Hummingbird Central — a spring migration map updated daily during the season

When sightings start appearing one or two states south of you, that is your signal to hang the feeder.

What to have ready before you hang it

Nothing elaborate. The feeder, plain white sugar, and water.

Mix at the standard ratio — one part sugar to four parts water — with no dye, no honey, and no substitutes. Our nectar recipe guide covers the method and the reasons behind each rule, and the sugar-to-water chart has measurements for every feeder size.

Start with a small batch. Early in the season you may have one visitor or none, and nectar in an unvisited feeder still has to be thrown out on schedule. A cup of nectar is plenty for a first fill.

Early-season maintenance is easier than summer

Cool spring weather works in your favour. Nectar spoils on a temperature curve, so the same feeder that needs daily attention in July can go the better part of a week in March.

Outdoor temperature	Change nectar every
Below 60°F / 16°C	6–7 days
60–70°F / 16–21°C	5–6 days
70–80°F / 21–27°C	3–4 days

Even so, change it on schedule whether or not anything has been drinking. Nectar that sits untouched for two weeks is not waiting — it is fermenting.

Where to hang it matters as much as when

A feeder in the wrong spot may as well not be out. Three things that make a difference in early spring:

Visible from above and from a distance. Migrating birds are scanning as they pass. An open sightline beats a sheltered corner.
Dappled shade, not full afternoon sun. Even in spring, direct sun accelerates spoilage and can push a small reservoir past comfortable temperatures.
Near cover, but not in it. A shrub or tree within ten or fifteen feet gives a perch and an escape route. Hanging directly inside dense cover makes the feeder hard to spot and easy to ambush.

Common questions

Will hanging a feeder early make hummingbirds arrive sooner? No. Migration timing is driven by day length and conditions along the route, not by whether a feeder is waiting. Hanging early means you are ready — it does not pull birds north.

Nothing has come in three weeks. Am I doing something wrong? Usually it is location, not nectar. Move the feeder somewhere more visible, and check the migration maps to confirm the birds have actually reached your latitude yet.

Should I put out more than one feeder? Early in the season, one is enough. Hummingbirds are territorial, and a single male will often chase others off one feeder. If traffic picks up in summer, adding a second feeder out of sight of the first reduces the fighting.

What if there is still a chance of frost? Nectar freezes at roughly the same point as water. If a hard freeze is forecast, bring the feeder in overnight and put it back out in the morning — or run two and rotate them.