Updated July 2026 · Timing derived from eBird data, 2016–2025

Louisiana runs a genuinely unusual hummingbird calendar. One species breeds here and clears out every winter; a second species shows up only in winter and is gone by spring; and unlike a lot of states, the Gulf Coast doesn't get a real head start on the rest of the state. Here's how the year actually unfolds, parish by parish.

New to feeding hummingbirds? Start with our guide to attracting hummingbirds in Louisiana for feeders, nectar, and native plants.

Regional Arrival Snapshot

Windows derived from eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016–2025, for Plaquemines, Orleans, East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, and Caddo parishes. "Reliably common" is defined as the first week each parish's Ruby-throated reports reach 25% of that parish's seasonal peak. Northwest Louisiana is less heavily birded than the Baton Rouge–New Orleans corridor, so its lower Rufous numbers are partly a coverage effect, not purely a lower true abundance.

January – February: The Quiet Season, With Winter Visitors Still Around

Ruby-throateds are gone. But Rufous Hummingbirds — Louisiana's most reliable winter species — are still very much present, especially in the Baton Rouge–Lafayette–New Orleans corridor, and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds continue showing up in coastal and southern parishes. If you kept a feeder up through fall, this is exactly the payoff window.

Late February – March: Scattered Early Arrivals, Not Yet Common

The first Ruby-throateds of spring start showing up — a handful here and there, plus any birds that never left. This is the period some sources call "arrival," but our own parish-level data shows these are thin, scattered records, not yet a reliable population. Coastal Plaquemines Parish does not get a meaningful head start here over inland parishes like Caddo or East Baton Rouge.

Last Week of March: Ruby-throated Becomes Reliably Common — Everywhere

This is the real turning point, and it happens within about a week of itself in every parish we reviewed, coastal or not. By the final week of March, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are reliably present statewide — this is the point to have feeders up if you haven't already.

April – Late July: Nesting Season

Louisiana's breeding Ruby-throateds settle in and nest. Feeder activity often quiets down somewhat during this stretch as females become secretive around the nest, though it never goes fully silent the way it does farther north.

Late July – October: Southbound Migration, and the Winter Wave Begins

Breeding Ruby-throateds start moving south, with most gone by late October. At the same time, the first Rufous Hummingbirds of the season begin arriving from the west — Louisiana's overlap month, with both the tail end of one season and the start of another happening at once.

November – December: Winter Hummingbirds Settle In

By now the Ruby-throateds are gone and Louisiana's winter specialists — chiefly Rufous, with Buff-bellied close behind — have set up for the season. Both are strongest in the Baton Rouge–Lafayette–New Orleans corridor. This is also when the rarer winter vagrants (Anna's, Allen's, Calliope, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Broad-billed, even an occasional Rivoli's) are most likely to turn up — if you see a hummingbird in your yard in December, it's worth a closer look and a photo.

Pop's tip: Louisiana doesn't really have a "hummingbird season" and an off-season — it has two overlapping populations on two different calendars. Keep a feeder up year-round if you want a shot at both.

Want feeder setup, nectar ratios, and native plant picks for your part of the state? See our full guide to attracting hummingbirds in Louisiana.

Sources

We pulled eBird bar chart data for Louisiana statewide and for five parishes — Plaquemines (Gulf Coast), Orleans (New Orleans), East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, and Caddo (Shreveport) — covering 2016 through 2025, and read the seasonal shape and regional pattern directly off the reporting rates ourselves. Percentages describe how often a species appears on birdwatchers' submitted checklists — a measure of how likely you are to encounter one, not a population count.

• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Louisiana statewide and parish-level (Plaquemines, Orleans, East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, Caddo), 2016–2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the regional arrival/wintering pattern.
• Louisiana Ornithological Society — Ruby-throated Hummingbird & its "lookalikes". Source for statewide arrival window corroboration.
• Buff-bellied Hummingbird, All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Source for U.S. breeding range and Louisiana wintering status.
• Audubon Delta / Baton Rouge Audubon Society Winter Hummingbird Database (Erik Johnson) and Louisiana Christmas Bird Count records. Source for the Baton Rouge–Lafayette–New Orleans wintering-Rufous concentration.

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