Hummingbirds in Michigan: The Complete Guide to All 9 Species

On January 15, 2025, Michigan's only licensed hummingbird bander, Allen Chartier, caught and banded an adult male Anna's Hummingbird at a feeder in Arcadia, Manistee County — a species whose home range doesn't come within a thousand miles of the Great Lakes. It was only the second Anna's ever accepted in the state, fourteen years after the first. That's the shape of Michigan's hummingbird year: one common, reliable breeder, one real fall visitor, and seven genuine rarities that range from a recurring pattern to a single sighting each.

All 9 documented Michigan hummingbird species, grouped by tier — cross-checked against the Michigan Bird Records Committee's official checklist and Review List.

The Hummingbird You're Most Likely to See

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Breeds Here

Michigan's only breeding hummingbird, and the only hummingbird that breeds anywhere in eastern North America. It nests statewide, from the southern Lower Peninsula up through the Upper Peninsula, wherever there's a mix of trees and open space for feeding. Statewide checklist activity peaks near 25.8% in late summer, driven both by local breeders and by migrants from farther north passing through.

Quick ID: Adult males show a brilliant iridescent ruby-red throat that can look flat black until light hits it directly, paired with an emerald-green back. Females and immatures lack the red throat, showing a plain whitish throat and a rounded, white-tipped tail instead.

A Little Throne for Your Ruby-throated

Michigan's only breeding hummingbird holds its territory hard all summer — a dedicated perch nearby gives it a proper vantage point to watch and defend the feeder instead of squaring off from a thin twig.

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Ruby-throated vs. Black-chinned: Where Identification Actually Breaks Down

Adult male Ruby-throated and Black-chinned Hummingbirds are usually easy to tell apart in good light — one shows a red gorget, the other a black one edged in violet-purple. But females and immatures of the two species are close to identical in the field. The one reliable field mark on a perched bird is wing-to-tail proportions: Ruby-throated has a longer tail that extends visibly past the wingtips at rest, while Black-chinned has longer wings that reach the tip of the tail or extend just slightly beyond it.

Black-chinned is a genuine but accidental Michigan record — see below for the details — so an unusual-looking female hummingbird here is worth a second look, even though Ruby-throated remains the far more likely explanation by a wide margin.

Michigan's Regular Fall Visitor

Rufous Hummingbird Migrant/Winter

A fiery orange western species that turns up regularly enough that the Michigan Bird Records Committee doesn't require documentation for it — it isn't on the Review List at all, unlike every other western hummingbird on this page. If a hummingbird shows up at your feeder in fall, there's a real chance it's this species rather than a lingering Ruby-throated.

Adult males are unmistakable — fiery coppery-orange overall with an iridescent orange-red throat — and famously aggressive, chasing off other hummingbirds regardless of size difference. Females and immatures are trickier: green-backed above, with rufous-washed flanks and a rusty patch at the base of the tail.

Quick ID: Adult males are almost entirely coppery-orange with a glowing orange-red throat, and the only largely rufous-backed hummingbird in North America; females and immatures are green-backed with rufous-washed flanks.

An Extra Feeder for Your Rufous Visitor

Rufous Hummingbirds are famously pushy at a feeder, chasing off anything nearby regardless of size — a second feeder set well apart gives your Ruby-throated stragglers somewhere to eat in peace once the Rufous shows up.

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Michigan's Recurring Rarity

Mexican Violetear Rare / Casual Visitor

The only hummingbird on Michigan's checklist coded "Casual" by the Michigan Bird Records Committee — its own definition of that tier means more than three but no more than thirty records in the last ten years, a real and recent recurring pattern rather than a one-off. Every other rarity on this page carries the stricter "Accidental" code.

Quick ID: Both sexes look essentially alike — an all-green hummingbird with a glittering violet patch across the ear coverts and upper chest, and a blackish band crossing the blue-green tail.

Make Your Sanctuary Worth a Detour

A hummingbird as far off its usual range as Mexican Violetear is running on more than sugar water — a real nectar recipe with electrolytes and calcium gives a bird that's already gone out of its way a genuine reason to linger.

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If You're Lucky: Michigan's Historic Rarities

Six more species have each been accepted by the Michigan Bird Records Committee, all coded "Accidental" — real, documented, one-time-or-thin events rather than birds to expect.

Anna's Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

Two accepted records, fourteen years apart. The first: an adult male and an adult female at a feeder in Grand Marais, Alger County, from early October into December 2010 — the male departed by mid-November, the female stayed until December 18. The second: an adult male at a feeder in Arcadia, Manistee County, present from fall 2024 into January 2025, banded by Allen Chartier — Michigan's only licensed hummingbird bander — on January 15, 2025. The eBird signal lines up exactly with that second bird: real statewide activity appears only in the two weeks matching its confirmed stay, with nothing elsewhere across the full year — a clean single-bird footprint, not evidence of a broader pattern. A third claimed record, from Grosse Pointe Woods in 2012, was formally reviewed and rejected.

Quick ID: The only North American hummingbird with a fully colored crown as well as throat — males glow rose-pink from head to throat. Females show a central patch of rose-red spotting on an otherwise plain throat, with a stocky, broad-tailed build.

Berylline Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

Michigan's only accepted record: a single bird in 2014, the state's first and, so far, only encounter with this species. A bird whose normal range runs from Mexico through Central America, genuinely far outside its expected territory. Nothing has been recorded since.

Quick ID: A coppery-rufous tail and wings set against an otherwise metallic green body are the giveaway — no other hummingbird on this list shows that much rufous in flight while still reading green-bodied at rest. Sexes look similar.

Black-chinned Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

One accepted record, in 2023 — Michigan's first ever documented Black-chinned Hummingbird. No recurring pattern has emerged yet; it's too soon to say whether this is the start of something or a genuine one-off.

Quick ID: Adult males show a velvety black throat with a thin band of iridescent purple visible only at the right angle — otherwise it reads as solid black. Females are essentially identical to female Ruby-throated except for longer wings that reach nearly to the tail tip.

Broad-billed Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

Two accepted records: the state's first at Lac La Belle, Keweenaw County, in 1996, and the second — Michigan's first Lower Peninsula record of the species — at Rockford, Kent County, in 2000. Both records predate this page's eBird data window, and nothing has been accepted since either one.

Quick ID: A vivid red bill tipped in black is diagnostic on both sexes; adult males add a shimmering blue-green throat and body, females a duller grayish underside.

Costa's Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

Michigan's only accepted record: a bird present in Onekama, Manistee County, from early October through November 18, 2014 — the state's first, and so far only, Costa's Hummingbird. Nothing has been recorded since.

Quick ID: Adult males show an extensive violet-purple crown and throat, with long gorget feathers that flare out past the sides of the neck like a mustache. Build is stockier and shorter-tailed than Black-chinned.

White-eared Hummingbird Historic / Accidental

Michigan's only accepted record: a single bird in 2005, the state's first and only encounter with this species. Its normal range runs from Mexico's highlands into the American Southwest borderlands, well outside its expected territory in the Great Lakes. Nothing has been recorded since.

Quick ID: A bold white stripe behind the eye and a bright red-and-black bill are diagnostic in every plumage. Adult males add a glittering violet-blue throat and emerald body; females are duller with a whitish, faintly spotted throat.

Give Every Visitor a Reason to Stay

Feeders bring them in, but real nectar sources are what make a yard worth staying in — a native wildflower mix keeps something blooming for every visitor Michigan sees, common breeder or once-in-a-decade rarity alike.

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Michigan Hummingbirds at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

How many species of hummingbirds are in Michigan?

Nine species have been documented in Michigan, per the Michigan Bird Records Committee's official checklist. Ruby-throated is the only breeder, Rufous is a regular fall visitor, Mexican Violetear is a genuinely recurring rarity, and Anna's, Berylline, Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Costa's, and White-eared are all Accidental-tier records requiring committee review.

Are there hummingbirds in Michigan in the fall?

Yes — Rufous Hummingbird is a real, regular fall visitor, common enough that the Michigan Bird Records Committee doesn't require documentation for it. Genuine winter rarities are less common but real — Michigan has a confirmed record of Anna's Hummingbird present into January.

How do I tell Ruby-throated and Black-chinned Hummingbirds apart?

Adult males are the easy case: Ruby-throated shows a red gorget, Black-chinned shows a black throat with a thin violet-purple band at the base. Females and young are effectively inseparable in the field — wing-to-tail proportions on a perched bird are the most useful mark.

What is Michigan's only recurring hummingbird rarity?

Mexican Violetear — it's the only hummingbird on Michigan's checklist that the Michigan Bird Records Committee codes "Casual," meaning more than three but no more than thirty records in the last decade. Every other Michigan hummingbird rarity is coded the stricter "Accidental."

For feeder setup, nectar ratios, and native plants that support these species, head back to our how-to-attract-hummingbirds-in-Michigan guide. For region-by-region arrival and departure windows, see the Michigan hummingbird calendar.

Why We Created This

Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations. One of the questions our customers ask most often is "What hummingbirds are actually in my state?" — and for Michigan, most answers online stop at "Ruby-throated, plus the occasional stray," without ever naming the seven other accepted species or explaining which of them represent a real recurring pattern versus a single documented sighting. We built this page to give a direct, sourced answer: the complete, officially documented list, with real identification detail for every species on it.

How We Created This

We pulled eBird bar chart data for Michigan, checked statewide, to see which species show a real, measurable presence rather than a scattering of isolated sightings — only Ruby-throated cleared that bar, so every rarity here is classified against the Michigan Bird Records Committee's own checklist and Review List instead of leaning on frequency percentages that don't mean much at low sample sizes. That check turned up a genuine discrepancy worth flagging: Broad-billed Hummingbird shows a modern eBird blip in Michigan that doesn't match either of its two accepted records, both of which predate this page's data window — a mismatch that reads more like a misidentified or unsubmitted sighting than a real third occurrence, so it isn't counted as one here. Anna's Hummingbird's signal, by contrast, checked out cleanly: its statewide activity appears only in the two-week window matching the 2025 Arcadia bird's confirmed stay, a tidy single-bird footprint rather than evidence of anything wider.

Sources

• Michigan Bird Records Committee, Michigan Checklist. Source for every species' status on this page.
• Michigan Bird Records Committee, Review List. Source for each rare species' abundance code (Casual vs. Accidental).
• Michigan Bird Records Committee, Anna's Hummingbird records page. Source for both accepted Anna's records' dates, locations, and finders.
• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Michigan statewide.