On January 13, 2010, in a backyard in Tallahassee, Florida, a bander named Fred Dietrich slipped a numbered band onto the leg of a one-year-old female Rufous Hummingbird — a bird weighing about as much as a penny. Six months later, in June, Kate McLaughlin caught that same bird in Chenega Bay, Alaska, on the far side of Prince William Sound. She had traveled 3,530 miles. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it remains the longest hummingbird migration ever documented.

Whether you're gardening in Juneau, Ketchikan, Fairbanks, or a coastal Southcentral community, this guide will walk you through everything you need to turn your space into an Alaska hummingbird destination: who's around and when, how to size your setup to any space, feeder and nectar care, pest-safe cleaning, and the native plants and wildflower seed varieties best suited to Alaska's short growing season.

The short version, if you're in a hurry:

To attract hummingbirds in Alaska, put up a leak-proof feeder filled with fresh, dye-free nectar by late March in Southeast Alaska — early April in the Interior, mid-April in Southcentral — keep it clean and refilled every 5–6 days in cool weather, skip the insecticide so hummingbirds can still hunt insects for protein, and plant native, nectar-rich flowers like salmonberry, western columbine, and fireweed so your yard offers real food alongside the feeder.

• More widespread than older guides say: hummingbirds are common in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, and the Interior around Fairbanks has a real season too — arriving the same week as Juneau, on the coast
• Best feeder type: leak-proof design with a comfort perch, like the AspenPerch® Hummingbird Feeder
• Best nectar: plain 4:1 water-to-sugar ratio, no red dye — or Pop's Nectar with added electrolytes and calcium
• Feeder timing: up by late March in Southeast Alaska, early April in the Interior, mid-April in Southcentral — the first Rufous arrive in the opening days of April
• Nectar change frequency: every 5–6 days in Alaska's cool summers, every 2–3 days during a warm spell
• Pest control: no insecticide — use vinegar-water spray and HummGuard™ nectar tips instead
• Top native plants: salmonberry, western columbine, fireweed, Indian paintbrush (varies by region — see below)
• Best wildflower planting window: late spring, once the ground has thawed and the risk of hard frost has passed

Which Hummingbirds You'll See in Alaska

Alaska sits at the very northern edge of hummingbird range in North America, and it's genuinely a two-species state — but where those two species turn up, and when, splits the state into a few very different places.

Rufous Hummingbird

Alaska's breeding hummingbird, and a bird that holds two genuine records. It nests farther north than any hummingbird in the world, reaching south-central Alaska at about 61°N. And its roughly 3,900-mile journey from Alaska to central Mexico is, measured against its own three-inch body, the longest migration of any bird on Earth — about 78 million body lengths, compared with 51 million for the Arctic Tern, which flies nearly three times as far.

They don't take the same road twice. Rufous move north up the Pacific Coast in spring and return south through the Rocky Mountains in late summer, tracing a vast clockwise loop around the West each year.

Where you'll find them in Alaska depends heavily on where you are. Around Juneau they're reported on more than one in five checklists at the height of summer. Around Anchorage that figure is closer to one in sixty. And around Fairbanks — contrary to what earlier editions of this guide said — there's a real season: arrival timing that matches Juneau almost to the week, and a peak (about one checklist in fourteen, in early July) that's actually higher than Anchorage ever reaches.

Quick ID: Adult males are coppery orange above and below with a throat that flares scarlet in direct light. Females and young are green-backed with orange-buff flanks and a lightly spotted throat. Alaska makes this easy — from April to September it's the only hummingbird in the state, so anything you see in summer is this.

Anna's Hummingbird

The newcomer, and the more surprising of the two. Anna's Hummingbirds have been expanding north along the Pacific Coast for decades, and they've now established a real presence well beyond the coast — not in summer, but in fall and winter, and as far inland as Fairbanks.

Around Juneau, Anna's are reported from mid-August through early March, peaking in late September and still turning up on two to four percent of checklists in December and January, when Rufous have been gone for months. Around Anchorage they appear in fall and fade out by December. Around Fairbanks, Anna's show up in every single month of the year in our data — thin in spring and summer (roughly one checklist in several hundred), building through fall to a real peak of around two to three percent by October, and still present, if quieter, right through winter. They aren't breeding in Alaska in any meaningful numbers — reports dip sharply from April through July, exactly when a breeding bird would be most obvious.

Quick ID: Males have an iridescent rose-pink crown and throat — the only North American hummingbird with the pink extending over the head. Females are grey-green with a few red flecks at the throat, and noticeably chunkier and less pointed than Rufous. In Alaska the timing settles it anyway: a hummingbird between October and March is an Anna's.

Beyond these two, Costa's Hummingbird has been recorded as a casual visitor, and a handful of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have turned up as genuine vagrants. Anything other than Rufous or Anna's in Alaska is worth photographing and reporting.

When Do Hummingbirds Arrive and Leave Alaska?

Statewide Picture

Before the region-by-region detail below, here's the whole season in one picture — two species, two very different curves, with almost no overlap between them.

How often each species turns up on eBird checklists, week by week — statewide, 2016–2025. The region-by-region detail below shows how these two seasons play out differently in Southeast, Southcentral, and the Interior.

Arrival Times by Region

Alaska's hummingbird season is short, and where you are changes a lot about what you'll see. Rufous compress an entire breeding cycle into about four months in the southeast corner of the state, arrive a month later and in far smaller numbers around Anchorage — and, as it turns out, reach the Interior too, arriving right alongside Juneau on the coast.

Windows derived from eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016–2025, for Juneau City and Borough, Anchorage Municipality, and Fairbanks North Star Borough. "First arrivals" is the first week reporting rates rise clearly above the off-season baseline and keep climbing; "reliably present" is when the species is being reported on a quarter or more of birdwatchers' sighting lists. No Alaska agency publishes region-by-region arrival dates, so these windows are eBird-derived.

Correction from earlier editions of this guide: we previously reported that Fairbanks and the Interior had no hummingbird records at all. A fresh eBird pull doesn't support that. Fairbanks North Star Borough shows a real, clean Rufous season — arriving the same week as Juneau, peaking near 7% of checklists in early July, higher than Anchorage ever reaches — and a genuine Anna's presence building through fall to a real (if smaller) peak around October. This correction is specific to Fairbanks North Star Borough. We don't yet have county-level data for Nome or points further north, so treat those as unconfirmed rather than assume the same finding extends there.

Leaving in Fall

The season ends abruptly almost everywhere. Around Juneau, hummingbird sightings fall from roughly one checklist in eight in mid-August to one in eighteen by month's end, and near zero by the second week of September. Southcentral empties even earlier, with most Rufous gone by early August. Fairbanks follows a similar arc to Juneau — still meaningfully present in early August, thinning fast by the month's end, and effectively gone by mid-September.

Part of that is how early they start. Adult males begin heading south in July, well before the young birds — so the last hummingbirds at your feeder in August are usually that summer's fledglings, fueling up for a first trip to Mexico they've never made before.

Want the full picture? Our Alaska hummingbird season calendar breaks the year down month by month — including the handover in late August, when the Rufous leave and the Anna's arrive.

A Note on Winter Hummingbirds

Here's the thing most Alaska hummingbird guides haven't caught up with: Alaska now has a winter hummingbird, and it isn't the one that breeds here.

Anna's Hummingbirds are reported around Juneau throughout December, January, and February, at rates several times higher than anything Rufous manages outside its summer season. Fairbanks shows a real winter presence too, though thinner than Juneau's. They're surviving Alaska winters on a combination of milder coastal temperatures (or, inland, backyard feeders specifically), and an ability to enter torpor — dropping their body temperature dramatically overnight to conserve energy.

If you're in Southeast Alaska — and, it now appears, potentially inland as well — this changes the calculation on when to take your feeder down. A feeder left up through the winter may be the difference for a bird that's a very long way from where its species used to live.

When to Put Your Feeder Up (and Take It Down)

Attracting Hummingbirds No Matter Your Space

You don't need acres of land to invite wonder into your yard. Hummingbirds are famously adaptable — all they're really looking for is a dependable food source, a safe place to perch, and a little color.

Small Patio or Balcony

One feeder hung from a bracket or shepherd's hook, paired with a container of red or orange tubular blooms like fuchsia, is plenty to get noticed. Hummingbirds are solitary feeders by nature, so a single feeder works great in tight spaces. We put together a guide to which hummingbird products work best on a small patio or balcony if space is tight.

Average Backyard

Add a mix of feeders and native blooms along a fence line or garden bed, and give your visitors a swing or two nearby to rest and survey their territory between sips.

Large Yard with Trees

Take advantage of the shade, and use trees like Sitka spruce or red alder as windbreaks near feeding areas — coastal Alaska's wind can be a real factor. Spread multiple feeders far apart, since hummingbirds are territorial and will happily chase each other off a single feeder.

Keep Feeders Clean with Fresh Nectar

Choose a Leak-Proof Feeder

A feeder is only as good as what's in it — and how well it's kept. Pop's AspenPerch® Hummingbird Feeder is leak-proof by design and paired with our patented Polyperch® comfort perch, so your hummingbirds can rest and feed at the same time instead of hovering the whole meal.

Feeding Fundamentals

• Only fill what they'll drink in a few days. An 8 oz feeder rarely needs to be topped all the way off — overfilling just means more nectar sitting around long enough to spoil.
• Skip the red dye. Your feeder's color does the attracting; dyed nectar offers no benefit and isn't necessary.
• Use a real nectar recipe, or save yourself the math with Pop's Nectar, formulated with added electrolytes and calcium to support hummingbirds through the demands of nesting season and one of the longest migrations of any bird their size — no dyes, no preservatives.

How Often to Change Nectar in Alaska

Alaska's cool, mild summer temperatures mean nectar generally lasts longer here than in warmer states:

If the nectar ever looks cloudy before that window is up, change it early — cloudiness means it's already started to ferment, even in cooler weather. Our full guide to how often to change hummingbird nectar covers the reasoning in more depth.

Or skip the math altogether — Pop's Nectar comes pre-measured, dye-free, and with the electrolytes and calcium a nesting female can't get from sugar alone.

Keep Feeders Pest-Free Without Insecticide

Hummingbirds don't live on nectar alone — small insects make up a big part of their protein diet, especially for feeding chicks. That means insect spray is off the table around your feeding station; it removes a food source hummingbirds depend on and can be harmful to them directly.

Instead:

• Clean your feeder every time you change the nectar, using warm water and a bottle brush — no soap residue, no bleach. A little vinegar and water solution works great for breaking down sticky buildup or the beginnings of mold. Our practical guide to cleaning hummingbird feeders walks through the whole routine.
• Deter ants and bees with a vinegar-water spray around (not on) the feeder ports, or wipe down the hanging hook where ants tend to march down. For the full set of options, see our guide to keeping ants away from hummingbird feeders.
• Use HummGuard™ nectar tips if bees and wasps keep crashing the party. They slide right onto the AspenPerch's feeding ports — the flexible membrane opens easily for a hummingbird's beak but closes tight against anything bigger, keeping your nectar exclusively for the birds it's meant for.

Give Them a Place to Rest

Hummingbirds spend a surprising amount of their day perched, not flying — watching their territory, digesting, and simply resting between feedings. A Pop's Original Hummingbird Swing hung near your feeder gives them exactly that spot, and it turns your feeding station into a front-row seat for watching them up close. Hang it within a foot or two of your feeder, and don't be surprised if a hummingbird claims it as their own personal lookout post. Our guide to where to hang your hummingbird swing covers placement in more detail — height, distance, and the sightlines that make one get used.

Plant an Alaska Native Hummingbird Garden

Feeders are a wonderful supplement, but nothing beats real, native nectar. Native plants evolved right alongside Alaska's hummingbirds, so they bloom on the right schedule and produce exactly the nectar these birds are looking for.

Best Native Nectar Plants for Alaska

• Salmonberry — one of the very first blooms of spring, and critically important for arriving Rufous Hummingbirds before much else is in flower
• Western columbine — an early, reliable native that hummingbirds and the Rufous itself likely help pollinate
• Fireweed — Alaska's iconic summer bloom, tall and unmistakable, a strong midsummer nectar source
• Indian paintbrush (yellow paintbrush) — another reliable native favorite

Pop's tip: Because hummingbird nesting is timed almost exactly to the peak of salmonberry and blueberry bloom, prioritizing these two shrubs does double duty — supporting nesting hummingbirds and giving you a real harvest to enjoy yourself.

To make this easy, our Perfect Little Sanctuary® Wildflower Seed Blend is designed to bring nectar-rich color into your yard with minimal fuss.

Nearby State Guides

If you're relocating from or splitting time with the Pacific Northwest, our Washington hummingbird guide and Oregon hummingbird guide may be of interest — Rufous Hummingbirds migrating to Alaska's coast pass directly through both states on their way north.

When to Plant the Perfect Little Sanctuary® Blend in Alaska

Late spring, once the ground has fully thawed, is the safest planting window in most of Southeast and Southcentral Alaska — typically May into early June, after the risk of hard frost has passed. This is a genuine departure from nearly every other state in this series: 9 of the 12 blend varieties either need or benefit from a cold, moist stratification period, but Alaska's winters are long and severe enough that fall-sown seed risks damage rather than the gentle dormancy period these plants are adapted to elsewhere. A late-spring sowing, timed to the start of Alaska's short but intense growing season, is the more reliable approach here.

Top Performers in Alaska

Alaska's short growing season and severe winters make it the most challenging climate for this blend anywhere in the 50-state series. Realistically, expect mixed results, and lean on the true Alaska natives listed above for your most reliable nectar sources. That said, a couple of the blend's 12 varieties are worth trying:

• White Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) — yarrow grows wild across Alaska and is by far the best-suited variety in this blend for the state's climate. Worth knowing that commercially sold yarrow is often European stock rather than the native Alaskan subspecies, though both handle the conditions.
• Siberian Wallflower (Erysimum × marshallii, often sold as Cheiranthus allionii) — not an Alaska native, and biennial, so it won't bloom its first year. But its cold tolerance and preference for a short, cool season give it a better-than-average shot here.

Pop's tip: For Alaska specifically, we'd recommend leaning more heavily on true native plants like salmonberry, columbine, and fireweed than on this blend, which was developed with the growing conditions of the Lower 48 in mind. We'll continue researching options better suited to Alaska's extreme climate as we refine this series.

Summary: Key Takeaways for Attracting Hummingbirds in Alaska

Building a hummingbird-friendly yard doesn't take a green thumb or a big budget — just a little consistency and the right setup. Here's everything from this guide in one place:

• Rufous Hummingbird is Alaska's only breeding species — common in Southeast, thinner around Anchorage, and with a real season in the Interior too: Fairbanks arrives the same week as Juneau and peaks higher than Anchorage ever does. It holds the record for the longest hummingbird migration ever documented: 3,530 miles, from a Florida backyard to Prince William Sound.
• Anna's Hummingbird is a genuine newcomer, now reported around Juneau right through December, January and February, and showing up in every month of the year around Fairbanks too — Alaska's winter hummingbird is not the one that breeds here.
• Feeder timing: up by late March in Southeast Alaska, early April around Fairbanks, mid-April in Southcentral — the first Rufous arrive in the opening days of April.
• Fairbanks and the Interior have a real hummingbird season, not the near-absence earlier editions of this guide described — this correction is specific to Fairbanks North Star Borough; Nome and points further north remain unconfirmed.
• In Southeast, consider leaving a feeder up year-round for wintering Anna's — a heated feeder, or two rotated so one is always thawed.
• Any size space works — one feeder is plenty for a balcony; larger yards can support multiple feeders spaced apart, since hummingbirds are territorial.
• Use a leak-proof feeder with a comfort perch, like the AspenPerch®, and fill it only as full as it'll be drunk in a few days.
• Skip red dye in nectar; a plain 4:1 sugar-water ratio or Pop's Nectar (with electrolytes and calcium) both work.
• Change nectar every 5–6 days in Alaska's cool summers, every 2–3 days during a warm spell.
• Clean the feeder at every nectar change with warm water and vinegar — no soap or bleach.
• Never use insecticide near feeders; hummingbirds rely on insects for protein. Use vinegar-water spray and HummGuard™ nectar tips for pest control instead.
• Add a swing near the feeder to give hummingbirds a place to rest and be observed up close.
• Native, nectar-rich plants (salmonberry, western columbine, fireweed, Indian paintbrush) are especially important in Alaska, since this blend's varieties are a harder fit here than almost anywhere else in the country.
• Sow wildflower seed in late spring once the ground has thawed, rather than fall.

Get these basics in place, and the wonder takes care of itself.

This guide covers what's specific to Alaska — the species, the timing, the plants that belong here. For the fundamentals that apply anywhere, including water sources, shelter, and how the pieces work together, read our guide to building the ultimate hummingbird sanctuary.

Frequently Asked Questions

A few of the questions we hear most from fellow hummingbird lovers across Alaska:

Does Alaska really have hummingbirds?

Yes. Rufous Hummingbird is a common and reliable breeder in Southeast Alaska — reported by more than one in five birdwatchers at the height of summer — and this is the northernmost breeding range of any hummingbird in the world. They're much thinner around Anchorage and Southcentral, but Fairbanks and the Interior have a real season too, arriving the same week as Juneau on the coast.

When should I put my hummingbird feeder out in Alaska?

Late March in Southeast Alaska. The first Rufous arrive in the opening days of April and numbers climb fast — by the end of April they're already at close to peak abundance. Around Fairbanks, early April is the right target; in Southcentral, mid-April, since birds there arrive about a month later.

Do hummingbirds stay in Alaska year-round?

Rufous don't. They leave for Mexico beginning in July, with most gone from Southcentral by early August and from Southeast and the Interior by mid-September. Anna's Hummingbirds are a different story — they're now reported around Juneau right through December, January, and February, and show up in every month of the year around Fairbanks as well, thinner in spring and summer but building to a real peak each fall. Winter hummingbirds in Alaska are real, and they're increasing.

Do hummingbirds reach Fairbanks and the Interior?

Yes — this is a genuine correction from earlier editions of this guide, which reported no Interior records at all. A fresh eBird pull for Fairbanks North Star Borough shows a real Rufous season, arriving the same week as Juneau on the coast and peaking near 7% of checklists in early July — higher than Anchorage ever reaches. Anna's shows a real presence there too, in every month of the year, building to a fall peak. We don't yet have county-level data for Nome or the North Slope further north, so we can't confirm whether the same holds true that far north — treat those areas as unconfirmed rather than assume this finding extends there.

How often should I clean my hummingbird feeder in Alaska?

Clean it every time you change the nectar — every 5–6 days in Alaska's typically cool summers, and every 2–3 days during a warm spell above 80°F.

What are the best plants to attract hummingbirds in Alaska?

Salmonberry matters more than any other, because it's one of the first things blooming when Rufous arrive. Western columbine, fireweed, and Indian paintbrush are all strong native choices that carry through the rest of the short season.

Alaska Hummingbird Resources

Audubon Chapters

Alaska is home to several local Audubon chapters, including Juneau Audubon Society. Find the one closest to you with Audubon's Find Your Local Audubon tool.

If You Find an Injured or Grounded Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are protected under federal and Alaska state law, so only a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can legally care for one.

• Alaska Sick or Dead Bird Hotline — 1-866-527-3358
• Alaska WildBird Rehabilitation Center (Mat-Su Valley) — 907-892-2927
• Bird Treatment and Learning Center (Bird TLC) (Anchorage) — a well-established rehabilitation center founded in 1988

Hummingbird Research in Alaska

Alaska is home to some of the most significant hummingbird research anywhere in the world, studying Rufous Hummingbirds — the most widely distributed hummingbird species in North America and the only one commonly found in Alaska.

• Alaska Hummingbird Project (based in Cordova), founded by master bander Kate McLaughlin, has been capturing and banding hummingbirds in Prince William Sound since 2007, and operates the northernmost hummingbird banding stations in the world. This is the same bander — and the same stretch of coast — behind the record at the top of this page: the Rufous banded in a Tallahassee backyard was recaptured here six months and 3,530 miles later. Alaska-banded birds have since been recovered as far away as California, Texas, Colorado, and Florida.
• Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (Girdwood) partners with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologists each year to capture, band, and release hummingbirds visiting the sanctuary, with live public demonstrations.
• Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, led by biologist Todd Eskelin, is currently attempting the first-ever full satellite tracking of a hummingbird's migration route from Alaska to Mexico, in partnership with the Banding Coalition of the Americas' HumTrack program.
• Tongass Hummingbird Project (Juneau), led by biologist Gwen Baluss since 2013 in partnership with Juneau Audubon Society, has documented individual hummingbirds returning to the same summer spot year after year.
• Alaska has only three licensed hummingbird banders in the entire state.

Hummingbird Events & Festivals in Alaska

• Alaska Hummingbird Festival (Ketchikan) — a month-long celebration of the Rufous Hummingbird's return to the Tongass National Forest, hosted at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. Includes a juried art show open to all Alaskan artists, Saturday morning guided bird walks, the Friday Night Insights lecture series, and Earth Day activities. All programs are free to the public. Held every year, throughout April.
• Summer Hummingbird Days at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (Girdwood), hosted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — a family-friendly day featuring live hummingbird banding demonstrations, talks on hummingbird natural history and pollinators, kids' activities, and practical advice on setting up feeders and pollinator gardens in Alaska. Free with admission. Held every year, in June.

Sources

• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Alaska statewide plus Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks North Star boroughs, 2016–2025. All arrival, departure, and species frequency figures on this page come from this dataset.
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds — Rufous Hummingbird
• Healy, S. & Calder, W. A. (2020). Rufous Hummingbird, in Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Audubon Field Guide — Rufous Hummingbird
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game — Long-Distance Hummingbird Sheds Light on Migration

Haven't grabbed it yet? Download the free Alaska Quick Reference Guide — one page, print and keep.

At Pop's Birding, we believe every backyard — big or small — has room for a little more wonder. Explore our hummingbird feeders, hummingbird nectar, hummingbird swings, and wildflower seed blends to start building your own hummingbird sanctuary today.