Mississippi Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar

Mississippi doesn't run on one hummingbird calendar — it runs on four. Ruby-throated Hummingbird reaches Central Mississippi by mid-March, the river and the north by the last week of the month, and builds to a statewide peak in the second week of September, when nearly two in five checklists report one, before a fast exit in October. But the Gulf Coast doesn't follow that script at all: Harrison County keeps real, if thin, Ruby-throated reports through every month of the year, including a genuine second wave that rebuilds each winter. That's also where five western visitors show up — Rufous and Buff-bellied along the coast, Black-chinned in both places, and two genuine rarities, Calliope and Broad-tailed, that Mississippi's own bird records committee still requires documentation for. Here's how it unfolds, month by month.

The short answer: Central Mississippi by mid-March, the river and the north by late March, reliably common everywhere by early April, a statewide peak in the second week of September, and gone from most of the state by mid-to-late October — except the Gulf Coast, which never fully empties and picks up real winter-visitor traffic instead.

Mississippi's Hummingbird Season at a Glance

Before the month-by-month detail, here's the whole season in three pictures. The first is Ruby-throated's full-year curve — the only species with a peak big enough to fill a chart on its own. The second is Mississippi's three regular winter visitors, the birds Mississippi's own records committee doesn't require documentation for. The third is different again: two genuine rarities that the committee does still review every report of, real and recurring but on a thinner, more sporadic pattern than the first two. We split them into three charts because Ruby-throated's peak is more than forty times the winter visitors' highest point, and because "regular" and "review-required" are two different real categories in Mississippi's own record-keeping, not just two sizes of small number.

That chart tells you who's biggest, but it hides the three species that show up reliably every winter without Mississippi's records committee asking for documentation — Rufous's peak is less than a fortieth of Ruby-throated's, so on a shared scale all three would flatten into a line along the bottom axis. Here they are on their own scale instead, where their real winter season is easy to see.

The last two are a different case again: real, recurring, but rare enough that Mississippi's bird records committee still reviews every report. Calliope and Broad-tailed's peaks are close in size to the winter visitors above, but their shape is thinner and more concentrated — worth their own chart to keep that distinction clear, not just to avoid crowding the one above.

How often each species turns up on eBird checklists, week by week — statewide, 2016-2025. Source: eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016-2025 (pulled Sep 2026). Mississippi's rarest hummingbirds — Anna's, Allen's, Broad-billed, White-eared, and Mexican Violetear — are all real, committee-accepted birds with one to four records apiece and no reliable multi-week pattern in the data, and can't be charted.

Regional Arrival and Departure Snapshot

Here's the same timing on the map. Central Mississippi, the river, and the north all run a fairly ordinary spring-to-fall season; the Gulf Coast is the outlier, present in every month we track.

January: Rufous at Its Statewide Peak

Ruby-throated is essentially silent inland in January — Central Mississippi, the river, and the north all sit at zero. The Gulf Coast keeps a real trickle going: Harrison County reports it on one or two of every hundred checklists in the first two weeks, enough to clear our own reliability bar before dipping again later in the month. January belongs to Rufous Hummingbird, which hits its statewide peak here in the fourth week — still fewer than one checklist in a hundred, but the high point of its whole year. Hinds County runs hotter still: about one in thirty Jackson-area checklists in the very first week of January, its own local peak, well before the statewide high point. Black-chinned is building toward a peak of its own a few weeks out, and in Hinds County it's already on nearly two checklists in a hundred by the fourth week. If you see any hummingbird in Mississippi this month, photograph it and report it to the Mississippi Bird Records Committee.

February: The Quiet Month, With One Local Surprise

February is the true quiet stretch — Ruby-throated is at zero on the river, in the north, and in Central Mississippi, and even the Gulf Coast dips under our reliability bar for most of the month before climbing back above it in the last week. Rufous is fading from its January high everywhere except one place: Harrison County's own Rufous peak actually lands here, not in January — about one in sixty Gulfport-area checklists in the first week of February, its highest reporting rate of the whole year, even though the statewide high point was a month earlier. Broad-tailed Hummingbird is quietly building in Hinds County, on one or two checklists in a hundred across the month on its way to a March peak. February is also feeder-check month statewide: with real winter activity possible on the Coast and around Jackson, and the first Central Mississippi scouts still about a month out, this is the window to get a feeder ready before the season actually needs it.

March: Central Mississippi Leads, the River and North Wait

March is when the season actually begins inland, and it begins in the middle of the state. Hinds County crosses our arrival threshold in the second week of March — one in twenty-five checklists, then one in fifteen the following week — while the river and the north are both still at zero. By the last week of the month both catch up fast: Warren County jumps to about one in fifteen and DeSoto to about one in fourteen, each clearing the bar for the first time. The Gulf Coast, already well past "reliably common," keeps climbing too, from about one in eight checklists to about one in seven. March also holds a real, thin local season of its own: Hinds County's Broad-tailed Hummingbird reaches its own peak here, about one checklist in forty in the first week, before fading out by April.

"Arrives" is the first of two consecutive weeks where at least 1% of a county's checklists report the species — backed, for the three higher-traffic counties, by at least five actual checklists behind that percentage (Warren County gets fewer checklists each week, so there we use the percentage alone). "Reliably common" is the first week a county's reports reach 25% of that county's own peak, not a statewide one. We checked the checklist count behind every one of these weeks, not just the percentage: DeSoto's second-week-of-April threshold rests on 132 checklists, Warren's first-week-of-April threshold on 101 — both comfortably real signal, not a thin county crossing a line on weak data.

Get a feeder up before the first bird arrives, not after.

Mississippi's arrival staggers across about two weeks inland — Central Mississippi in the second week of March, the river and the north in the last — so a feeder out by early March costs you nothing, while one still in the garage when the first scout turns up costs you the sighting. March is also the month to check last year's feeder for cracked seals and worn ports before the season depends on it. AspenPerch® has a built-in ant moat and a Polyperch® comfort perch, so birds rest between sips instead of hovering through the whole meal.

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April: Every Region On, the Coast Hits an Early High

By April, every county we track is reporting Ruby-throated. Central Mississippi is already near its eventual peak — roughly a third of checklists across the month, not far off what Hinds County will report at the true statewide high point in September. The river and the north are still climbing fast: Warren goes from about one in nine checklists to nearly one in three, DeSoto from about one in six to nearly two in five. The Gulf Coast does something none of the other three counties do — Harrison hits one in four checklists in the third week of April, a real secondary high point months before its actual annual peak in September. That's worth remembering going into May, because the Coast doesn't just keep climbing from here.

May: Inland Settles In, the Coast Crashes

Inland, May is the wave finishing its work — every county we track is reliably common by now, and Central Mississippi keeps building toward summer, on about a third of checklists for most of the month. The Gulf Coast tells a completely different story. Harrison County, still on nearly one in five checklists in the first week of May, falls off a cliff by the third — under two in a hundred, then about one in two hundred in the fourth week, a near-total collapse from an April high point that looked like the season was in full swing. Nothing else we track does this: every inland county moves in one smooth arc from spring into summer, and the Coast alone has a real, sample-size-backed dip in the middle of its year.

June: Nesting Settles In, Central Mississippi Surges

Females become secretive around the nest in June, which can make feeder activity look quieter even though the birds haven't gone anywhere — they're spending more time incubating and less time visibly perched. Males take no part in nest duties and stay visible and territorial. Central Mississippi is the exception to any lull: Hinds County climbs from under one in four checklists to more than one in three across June, already closing in on where the statewide peak will land in September. The north holds steady and high, roughly a third of checklists all month, while the river stays much lower, mostly under one in ten. The Gulf Coast stays low too, still recovering from its May crash.

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.

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July: Building Toward the Peak

July is the run-up. Central Mississippi keeps climbing, from more than two in five checklists to more than half across the month, as fledglings join adults at feeders and flowers. The Gulf Coast is recovering from its spring dip but still well below its eventual peak, between one in thirty and one in fifteen checklists. The river and the north both build steadily too, each still a good six weeks from their own high points. Statewide, this is the quiet build before August's real climb.

Keep pests off without pesticides — hummingbirds rely on small insects for protein, so spraying near a feeder can cost them a food source, not just protect one.

Mississippi's July heat brings out ants and wasps along with the birds. 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.

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August: The Climb to the Peak

August is when Mississippi's numbers go vertical almost everywhere. The north is already running hot — DeSoto hits half of all checklists twice this month — and the Gulf Coast finally breaks out of its spring-summer slump, climbing from about one in fifteen checklists to nearly one in five as it heads into its real annual peak. Central Mississippi holds high and steady, roughly half of checklists, and the river builds too, swinging between about one in fourteen and more than one in three week to week. Birds statewide are in hyperphagia, the intensive pre-migration feeding phase that packs on fat ahead of the flight south.

This is the month to be generous, not economical.

Birds fueling for a long flight need feeders topped up more often — the large 2lb Nectarlyte® powder or the Nectarade® liquid concentrate keeps you from running out mid-surge.

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September: The Statewide Peak, and Four Different Peak Weeks

September holds Mississippi's statewide high point — nearly two in five checklists in the second week — but the four counties we track don't actually peak together. Central Mississippi peaks earliest, on more than three in five checklists in the very first week of the month. The Gulf Coast peaks alongside the statewide number, in the second week. The north peaks latest of all: DeSoto reaches nearly four in five checklists in the third week, the single highest rate we track anywhere in Mississippi, a full week after the statewide high point. The river's own peak actually happened back in August, weeks before any of the others. Whatever is driving each county's own high point, it isn't one shared statewide wave moving through in lockstep — it's four separate local peaks that happen to cluster in late summer. Numbers stay elevated through the rest of the month everywhere — statewide, more than a third of checklists still report one in the last week of September, and DeSoto is still above two in three. The real crash is next month.

October: The Fast Exit

October is when most of Mississippi's Ruby-throated Hummingbirds leave, and it happens fast. Statewide, the share of checklists reporting one falls from about one in four in the first week to about one in six, then one in fifteen, then fewer than one in fifty by the last week — a drop of roughly nine-tenths in a month. Central Mississippi and the river both empty earliest: Hinds County is down to about one in fifty by the fourth week and effectively gone, and Warren County is already at zero by the third. The north holds on longest — DeSoto is still on about one checklist in twenty in the first week of November before it, too, is gone. The Gulf Coast follows the same steep fall — from more than one in four checklists to under one in fifty across the month — but unlike the other three counties, it isn't really "leaving" so much as thinning out ahead of a real winter presence that rebuilds in December. October is also when Mississippi's western visitors start showing up: the turn into November brings the first real pulse of Rufous statewide.

October is the planting month, not the tidying-up month.

Sow native wildflower seed now and it gets the cold, moist stretch most varieties need before they'll bloom reliably next spring — the same spring your hummingbirds come back to.

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November: Buff-bellied Builds, Calliope Arrives

Ruby-throated is essentially gone statewide in November, and this is instead the start of Mississippi's real winter-visitor season. Buff-bellied Hummingbird is building fast on the Gulf Coast — Harrison County goes from about one checklist in ninety to about one in sixty during the month, on its way to a December peak. Rufous is rising too, though still on fewer than one statewide checklist in two hundred. Calliope Hummingbird — a genuine rarity that Mississippi's records committee still reviews every report of — turns up only thinly in the first half of the month, one or two checklists in a thousand statewide, then disappears again before a sharp jump in the first week of December.

Seeing one bird chase everyone else off?

That's usually a resident claiming both the feeder and a nearby swing as its own guarded territory. A second feeder and a second swing, spaced out of sight of each other, gives another bird — the incoming migrant or a displaced resident — its own station to guard instead of fighting over one.

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December: Mississippi's Biggest Rarity Month

December is when three of Mississippi's winter species hit their own peak, and two of them peak in the same place. Harrison County is the real center of gravity: Buff-bellied Hummingbird reaches about one in twenty-five Gulfport-area checklists in the second week, its highest rate anywhere in the state all year, and Calliope reaches about the same level in the first week — the same week it peaks statewide. Black-chinned reaches its own Harrison County high point that week too, about one checklist in fifty, though statewide it won't hit its actual peak until January. Rufous keeps climbing toward its own December high, still under one statewide checklist in a hundred — not quite January's statewide peak, but close. Anything unusual at a December feeder is worth a photograph and a report. Our winter hummingbird feeder care guide covers heated feeders and the two-feeder swap.

The Year at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

When do hummingbirds come back to Mississippi?

Central Mississippi (Hinds County) sees its first real arrivals in the second week of March, followed by the river (Warren County) and the north (DeSoto County) in the last week of the month. The Gulf Coast doesn't really have an arrival — Harrison County keeps a real, if thin, Ruby-throated presence through most of the winter. Statewide, reliably common arrivals begin in the last week of March, and feeders should be up by the first week of March in Central Mississippi and by mid-March on the river and in the north.

When do hummingbirds leave Mississippi?

Most of the state, yes — but not all of it. Central Mississippi and the river both leave by mid-October, and the north by late October. Statewide, the share of checklists reporting one falls from about one in four in the first week of October to fewer than one in fifty by the last. The Gulf Coast is the exception: it never fully empties, and that's exactly when Mississippi's winter visitors — Rufous, Buff-bellied, and Black-chinned — start showing up.

When do hummingbirds leave north Mississippi?

Later than the rest of the inland state. DeSoto County is still reporting Ruby-throated on about one checklist in twenty in the last week of October and the first week of November — when Central Mississippi and the river have already been at or near zero for a week or two. The north arrives with the rest of inland Mississippi in late March but holds on into November, the last inland region to empty.

Are there hummingbirds in south Mississippi in winter?

Yes — more so than anywhere else in the state. The Gulf Coast (Harrison County) is Mississippi's real winter-hummingbird hotspot: Buff-bellied and Calliope both reach their statewide peaks there in December, Black-chinned peaks there too, and a genuine trickle of Ruby-throated reports continues through the season. Photograph anything you see at a coastal feeder between November and February — there's a real chance it isn't a Ruby-throated at all.

What types of hummingbirds are in Mississippi?

Eleven species have accepted Mississippi records. Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only breeder and the only species present every month of the year. Rufous, Buff-bellied, and Black-chinned are regular winter visitors that Mississippi's records committee doesn't require documentation for. Calliope and Broad-tailed are genuine but rarer, both still reviewed by the committee. The remaining five — Anna's, Allen's, Broad-billed, White-eared, and Mexican Violetear — each have just one to four accepted records.

How long do hummingbirds stay in Mississippi?

About seven months for most of the state — mid-to-late March through mid-to-late October. On the Gulf Coast, Ruby-throated's own presence stretches close to year-round, and adding the western-visitor season on top of that — Rufous, Buff-bellied, Black-chinned, Calliope, and Broad-tailed, all real between November and February — makes Mississippi one of the longer hummingbird-watching windows in this series.

Should I keep a feeder up through a Mississippi winter?

Yes, especially on the Gulf Coast, where the odds of a genuine winter visitor are real rather than a long shot. Rufous and Buff-bellied are both regular enough that Mississippi's records committee doesn't require documentation for them; Black-chinned is regular too. Calliope and Broad-tailed are rarer, but both have multiple accepted records from the past few years, including individually banded birds that stayed for months. A late-season hummingbird anywhere in Mississippi is worth a photograph and a report to the Mississippi Bird Records Committee, whatever you think it is.

Why We Built This Calendar

Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations, and one of the questions our customers ask most is "When do hummingbirds arrive and leave my state?" Most timing advice gives one date for a whole state, which is exactly wrong for Mississippi: Central Mississippi gets its birds nearly two weeks before the river and the north, and the Gulf Coast never really has an arrival or departure at all. A single statewide date would flatten that into a false average. We wanted a calendar that tells you the truth for where you actually live.

How We Built This Calendar

We pulled eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) for Mississippi statewide and four counties chosen for geographic spread — Harrison on the Gulf Coast, Hinds in Central Mississippi, Warren on the river, and DeSoto in the north — for 2016–2025. A county's arrival or departure counts only when at least 1% of its checklists report the species for two weeks running, adjusted for how many checklists each county gets. Species status follows the Mississippi Bird Records Committee. The county comparison is our own analysis, not a rewrite of eBird's bar charts.

Sources

• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Mississippi statewide and county-level (Harrison, Hinds, Warren, DeSoto), 2016-2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the regional arrival/departure pattern.
• Bird Checklist and Records, Mississippi Ornithological Society / Mississippi Bird Records Committee (MBRC); and Mississippi Bird Records Committee Annual Report–2009, The Mississippi Kite 40(1), July 2010. Source for each species' review status and accepted-record counts.
• Mississippi Bird Records Committee 2022 Annual Report, The Mississippi Kite 53, December 2023. Source for the 2020–2021 Calliope and Broad-tailed Hummingbird records, including the individually banded birds.
• Woodrey, M.S., "10-Volume Index to the Mississippi Kite: 1991–2000," The Mississippi Kite 30(2), December 2000. Source for Buff-bellied Hummingbird's recurring 1990s Gulf Coast pattern.
• 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.
• Estades, C. F., Vukasovic, M. A., & Tomasevic, J. A. (2008). Giant Hummingbirds (Patagona gigas) ingest calcium-rich minerals. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120(3), 651–653.