Sep 12, 2026
Maine Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar
Ruby-throated Hummingbird is Maine's only breeding species, and its season here follows a simple shape: a fast arrival in the first three weeks of May, a genuine nesting lull in June, and then a long build through summer to a real peak in mid-to-late August — not early August, whatever you may have seen elsewhere. From there it's a fast exit, with most birds gone by mid-September inland and by late September on the coast. Rufous Hummingbird follows every year almost like clockwork, a genuine fall visitor at feeders from October into November, well after the Ruby-throateds have gone.
The short version: Ruby-throated arrives statewide in early May — Aroostook about a week behind the coast and Bangor — and peaks hardest around Bangor, where checklists top 34% in mid-August, well above anywhere else in the state. Rufous Hummingbird is real and near-annual, not a fluke; Maine's own Bird Records Committee has around 15 to 16 accepted records. Three more species have real, documented Maine records too: Broad-tailed (a single 2022 bird, Maine's and all of New England's first), Calliope (two accepted records), and Mexican Violetear (one accepted record).
Maine Hummingbird Season: Quick Reference
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| When do they arrive? | Early May on the coast and around Bangor; about a week later, mid-May, in Aroostook |
| When should feeders go up? | By late April on the coast, early May up north |
| When do they nest? | June, with numbers easing to their lowest point of the summer |
| Busiest time? | Mid-to-late August — 22% of checklists statewide, over a third around Bangor |
| When do they leave? | Mid-September around Bangor and in Aroostook; late September on the coast |
| Anything else to watch for? | Rufous Hummingbird, a genuine near-annual fall visitor from October into November — plus rare documented records of Broad-tailed, Calliope, and Mexican Violetear |
Free download
The whole year on one page
County-by-county arrival windows, feeder up/down dates, and when to watch for Rufous — sized 8.5" x 11" for easy reference and printing.
Download the printable calendarOne page · PDF · free to print and share
Maine's Hummingbird Season at a Glance
Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the state's only species with a real, chartable season — Rufous is genuine but far too thin and scattered by year to plot a meaningful curve alongside Ruby-throated's dominant one, so it's covered in prose instead, sourced from Maine's own bird records rather than checklist frequency.
The Counties Behind This Page
This calendar draws on ten years of eBird checklist data (2016–2025) from three Maine counties chosen for genuinely different geography: Cumberland (Portland, the southern coast), Penobscot (Bangor, central Maine), and Aroostook (the northern tip of the state) — alongside statewide totals.
One thing worth knowing before you read this month by month: Bangor doesn't just peak highest, it runs hotter than the rest of the state all summer. By late July, Bangor is already close to 25% of checklists — a level the coast and the statewide figure don't reach until deep into August. If you're only picturing one late-August spike, you're missing how much earlier Bangor's whole summer runs.
January, February & March: The Quiet Season
No statewide signal. It's too early in the year for arrivals anywhere in Maine, and feeders can safely stay in storage.
April: The First Scouts
A trickle, not an arrival — a few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds show up around Portland in the final week of the month, with almost nothing reported inland yet.
Get your feeder up before the first scout arrives, not after.
Check last year's feeder for cracked seals and worn ports before the season depends on it — up by late April on the coast, early May inland. AspenPerch® has a built-in ant moat and a Polyperch® comfort perch, so birds rest between sips instead of hovering through the whole meal.
Shop AspenPerch® →May: The Whole Season Arrives in Three Weeks
This is Maine's fastest month. Statewide frequency goes from under 5% in the first week to nearly 21% by the third — almost the entire spring arrival compressed into about three weeks. Aroostook runs about a week behind the coast and Bangor, the one real regional exception to a single statewide date.
| County | Reliable Arrival |
|---|---|
| Cumberland (Portland) | Early May |
| Penobscot (Bangor) | Early May |
| Aroostook | Mid-May |
June: The Nesting Lull
Statewide frequency eases back to its lowest point of the summer — about 9%, as females settle onto nests. This is a real change in behavior, not birds leaving; every tracked county holds steady in a similar range all month, with no sharp dips anywhere.
Why nesting season is the demanding one
There's a wrinkle specific to hummingbirds. Most female birds build up a temporary calcium store in their bones, called medullary bone, and draw on it to make eggshell. Hummingbirds have very little of it, so a laying female has less in reserve. Researchers have seen nesting females eating wood ash and other mineral-rich materials, which they think helps replace the calcium that goes into eggs. In one 1994 study, every bird seen eating ash was a female tending a nest.
It's part of why Pop's Nectar includes calcium and electrolytes rather than sugar alone. Nesting females need extra calcium during egg-laying, and plain sugar water has essentially none. Read more on the research behind it.
Shop Nectarlyte® 8 oz →July: Juveniles Join In, Bangor Pulls Ahead
Numbers climb steadily through July as juveniles fledge and join the adults at feeders. Bangor pulls well ahead of the rest of the state this month, closing July near 25% — a level the coast and the statewide figure won't reach for another three to four weeks.
Keep pests off without pesticides.
AspenPerch®'s built-in ant moat blocks ants with a water barrier, and HummGuard® Nectar Tips keep bees and wasps out without changing anything for the birds.
Shop HummGuard® →August: The Year's Peak
This is Maine's real peak month, and it runs later in the month than you might expect — mid-to-late August, not early. Statewide frequency climbs to 22% by the third week. Bangor peaks hardest of anywhere in the state, above 34% the same week. Portland peaks latest of the three, still climbing into the fourth week of August before easing off.
This is the month to be generous, not economical.
Birds fueling for a long flight south need feeders topped up more often — the 2lb Nectarlyte® keeps you from running out mid-surge.
September: A Fast Exit, Coast Holding Longest
Statewide frequency starts the month near 19% and falls to under 3% by the fourth week — a genuinely steep decline everywhere, but not an even one. Bangor and Aroostook both drop hard right from the first week; Portland starts the month still near its own August peak and eases off more gradually, which is why the coast's official season runs into late September while Bangor and Aroostook are essentially done by mid-month.
Peak season means real competition at the feeder.
A second feeder and a swing, kept out of sight of each other, give a territorial male his own station instead of a fight over yours.
Shop the Charm Swing →October: Ruby-throateds Gone, Rufous Arrives
Ruby-throated Hummingbird is essentially gone from Maine by early October. This is exactly when Rufous Hummingbird shows up — a genuine, near-annual fall visitor, not a fluke, with Maine's Bird Records Committee counting roughly 15 to 16 accepted records. Its own peak falls in the very last week of the month.
This is the planting month.
Nine of the Perfect Little Sanctuary® blend's 12 varieties need or benefit from a cold, moist stretch before they germinate well, and Maine's winter does that work on its own.
Shop the Perfect Little Sanctuary® blend →November & December: Rufous Lingers, Then Maine's Rarest Record
A Rufous Hummingbird or two typically lingers into November before finally moving on — most of Maine's documented records skew toward feeders in and around Portland, though individual birds turn up statewide and rarely stay more than a few weeks. Leave a feeder up through November, well after your Ruby-throateds are long gone, and photograph anything that turns up.
December is when Maine's rarest hummingbird record of all took place: a single Broad-tailed Hummingbird spent from November 5 through December 23, 2022 at a Freeport feeder — Maine's first record ever, and the first for all of New England. It was banded and confirmed by naturalist Scott Weidensaul.
Maine's Other Rare Visitors
Beyond Rufous and that one remarkable Broad-tailed, Maine has two more documented hummingbird records, both accepted by the state's Bird Records Committee. Calliope Hummingbird has 2 accepted records, both in fall: October 2005 on Monhegan Island, and October–November 2008 in Blue Hill. Mexican Violetear has a single accepted record, from Mount Desert in August 2007 — a species with no page of its own on this site yet, but a real, documented Maine occurrence all the same.
The Year at a Glance
| Month | What's Happening |
|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | No statewide signal — too early for arrivals |
| April | A trickle around Portland in the final week; almost nothing inland |
| May | Fast statewide arrival, nearly 21% by week three; Aroostook a week behind |
| June | The nesting lull — statewide dips to its lowest point of the summer |
| July | Steady climb; Bangor pulls well ahead of everywhere else |
| August | The real peak — mid-to-late month, 22% statewide, over 34% around Bangor |
| September | Fast exit inland; the coast holds on longest |
| October | Ruby-throateds gone; Rufous arrives, peaking the last week |
| Nov–Dec | Rufous lingers, then Maine's only Broad-tailed record ever |
Frequently Asked Questions
When do hummingbirds arrive in Maine?
Early May on the coast and around Bangor; about a week later, in mid-May, in Aroostook to the north.
When do hummingbirds leave Maine?
It depends on where you are. Bangor and Aroostook are done by mid-September. The coast holds on longer, into late September.
When do hummingbirds actually peak in Maine?
Mid-to-late August, not early August — checklists reach 22% statewide in the third week, and over 34% around Bangor the same week. Portland peaks latest of all, still climbing into the fourth week of August.
Is Rufous Hummingbird really in Maine every year?
Yes. Maine's Bird Records Committee counts roughly 15 to 16 accepted records, and Maine Audubon describes it as being found almost annually, typically at feeders from mid-October through November — genuinely near-annual, not a fluke sighting.
What other rare hummingbirds have been documented in Maine?
Three more, each with real accepted records: Broad-tailed Hummingbird (one bird, Freeport, Nov–Dec 2022 — Maine's and New England's first ever), Calliope Hummingbird (two records, 2005 and 2008), and Mexican Violetear (one record, 2007).
Why We Built This Calendar
Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations. One of the questions our customers ask most often is "when do hummingbirds arrive and leave my state?" — we built this calendar to give a direct, sourced answer, not a generic one. Maine is easy to get slightly wrong on timing specifically: the real peak falls later in August than most casual guides assume, and Bangor's whole summer runs hotter than the coast's, not just its final peak week.
How We Built This Calendar
Timing here is built from eBird checklist data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016–2025, across three counties chosen for real geographic spread — Cumberland (Portland), Penobscot (Bangor), and Aroostook — plus statewide totals, with every date checked against the raw weekly numbers behind it, not just the monthly peak. Rufous Hummingbird's status as a genuine near-annual visitor, and the accepted-record counts behind Broad-tailed, Calliope, and Mexican Violetear, are drawn from the Maine Bird Records Committee's own official list, not from checklist frequency alone — the actual weekly signal for all four of these species is far too thin and scattered to support a claim on its own.
Sources
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Maine statewide and county-level (Cumberland, Penobscot, Aroostook), 2016-2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the county comparison.
- Maine Bird Records Committee, Official List of Maine Birds. Source for official species status and the accepted-record counts behind Rufous, Broad-tailed, Calliope, and Mexican Violetear Hummingbird.
- Maine Audubon. Source for Rufous Hummingbird's near-annual status and typical arrival window.
- des Lauriers, J. R. (1994). Hummingbirds eating ashes. The Auk, 111(3), 755–756. Documents five nesting female hummingbirds eating wood ash; no males were seen doing so in that study.
- Adam, M. D., & des Lauriers, J. R. (1998). Observations of hummingbirds ingesting mineral-rich compounds. Journal of Field Ornithology, 69, 257–261. Source for hummingbirds' greatly reduced medullary bone and for the mineral-rich materials they eat.
- Werning, S. (2018). Medullary bone is phylogenetically widespread and its skeletal distribution varies by taxon. Journal of Ornithology, 159, 527–543. Source for medullary bone being confirmed in hummingbirds.
Know before they arrive
You don't have to keep this calendar taped to the fridge. Insider Birding Access members get seasonal notes timed to your region — when to have feeders out, what the birds are doing right now, and what's worth doing in your yard this season. We take the guesswork out of the calendar. Joining takes about thirty seconds, and there's 10% off your first order in it.
Join Insider Birding Access →Free to join. 10% off your first order.
Shop Maine's Hummingbird Favorites
Bethany Sloan has served as General Manager of Pop's Birding since 2010, continuing the legacy of her grandfather, William "Pops" Sloan, inventor of the Original Hummingbird Swing. A lifelong hummingbird enthusiast, educator, and independent researcher, she leads the company's educational content, including its 50-State Hummingbird Guide series, Regional Guide, Species Guide and Hummingbird Learning Center. Bethany combines scientific research, regional migration data, and more than 16 years of hands-on experience to create trusted educational resources for bird enthusiasts across North America.
