New Mexico doesn't have one hummingbird story — it has at least three, running at once. Black-chinned Hummingbird and Broad-tailed Hummingbird are both real, statewide breeders — not one dominant species with a token second, but two genuinely comparable birds, arriving within days of each other in April and both still common into October. Layered on top of that, Rufous and Calliope pass through in real numbers from late June into fall — not breeding here, but moving through in a volume most states never see from either species. And then the state's far southwest corner runs an almost entirely different calendar: Hidalgo County (the Bootheel), Grant County, and Catron County hold genuine breeding Lucifer, Broad-billed, Rivoli's, and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds, plus a real, regular Anna's presence — five more species that barely register anywhere else in the state. Seventeen species have accepted New Mexico records in all, more than any state we've covered. One thing that might surprise you: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the default bird almost everywhere else in this series, is a genuine rarity here. Here's how it unfolds, month by month.

The short answer: statewide arrivals begin in early April, with Black-chinned and Broad-tailed both reliably common by early May; July into August is the real peak, when Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, and Rufous are all near their own highs at once; most of the state is quiet again by late October. The Bootheel and the southwest corner run a longer, richer season on top of that, with real breeding activity from species found nowhere else in New Mexico and a genuine winter Anna's presence.

New Mexico's Hummingbird Season at a Glance

Before the month-by-month detail, here's the whole season in one picture. Every other state in this series has needed two or three charts — one dominant species that flattens everything else on a shared scale, then a second chart to rescue the smaller ones. New Mexico's real species count makes that approach unworkable: with 17 accepted species and a gap between the biggest peak and the smallest that runs into the thousands, no shared scale survives. Instead, all 11 chartable species are ranked top to bottom by how common they genuinely are, but each one is scaled to its own peak — so a species that barely clears half a percent statewide still shows its real, distinct season, right alongside Black-chinned's much bigger one.

How often each species turns up on eBird checklists, week by week — statewide, 2016-2025, each species scaled to its own peak. Source: eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016-2025 (pulled Sep 2026). Six more New Mexico hummingbirds — Allen's, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, White-eared, Berylline, Cinnamon, and Mexican Violetear — are all real, committee-accepted birds with far too few records for a reliable weekly pattern, and can't be charted.

Regional Arrival and Departure Snapshot

Here's the same timing on the map. Black-chinned's own arrival and departure run close together across all five counties — the real regional differences in this state show up in which other species are present, not in when the main breeders show up.

January: Grant County's Real Winter Holdouts

Statewide, every main breeder is silent — Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufous, and Calliope are all at or near zero. Grant County tells a different story. Anna's Hummingbird is still genuinely present here, carrying over from a real fall build rather than freshly arriving: 1.4% of Silver City-area checklists in the first week of January, climbing to 3.4% in the second — the highest Anna's reporting rate we see anywhere in the state this month. Rivoli's Hummingbird holds on too, at 1.2% to 1.5% through the first three weeks, a genuine near-year-round presence in Grant County rather than a true winter arrival. If you're in Silver City or the Bootheel and see a hummingbird this month, it's worth a second look and a photo — New Mexico has real winter activity here that most of the state simply doesn't.

February: The Quiet Month, Statewide and in Grant County Both

February is genuinely quiet everywhere, including Grant County. Anna's fades from January's high to 0.28% to 0.36% across the month, and Rivoli's drops to a thin 0.17% to 1.1%. Statewide, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed are both still effectively at zero, with real arrivals still a month or more out. This is the window to get a feeder cleaned and ready before the season actually needs it — by the time the first scouts show up in Eddy County in late March, there won't be time to catch up.

March: Eddy County First, Then a Statewide Pause

Eddy County is the first to stir, crossing our arrival threshold in the last week of March — 1.8% of Carlsbad-area checklists, then 7.9% in the first week of April. Everywhere else is still genuinely quiet: statewide, Black-chinned sits at zero through the first three weeks of the month and only reaches 0.16% by the fourth; Broad-tailed is a little further along, up to 1.4% by month's end. Grant County's winter Anna's and Rivoli's have both faded to a thin trickle by now, and the Bootheel's specialty species — Lucifer, Broad-billed — haven't shown up yet at all. March is transition, not arrival, for all but the southeast corner of the state.

April: The Whole State Wakes Up, the Bootheel Included

April is when New Mexico's real season begins almost everywhere at once. Bernalillo and Grant counties both cross our arrival threshold in the first week — Bernalillo climbing fast, from 1.2% to 49.1% of Albuquerque-area checklists by the fourth week; Grant close behind, 8.7% to 36.9%. Catron and Hidalgo, both slower to start, cross the threshold a week later and build more gradually, each in the 6% to 13% range by month's end. This is also when Hidalgo County's real specialty species wake up: Lucifer Hummingbird arrives and peaks within the month, 3.2% of checklists in the third week; Broad-billed builds steadily, reaching 3.4% by the fourth week on its way to a much bigger July peak.

"Arrives" and "leaves" are the first and last of two consecutive weeks where at least 1% of a region's checklists report the species, backed by at least five real checklists behind the percentage. We checked the checklist count behind every one of these, not just the rate: Catron's second-week-of-April arrival rests on 9 effective checklists, thinner than the others but still real signal, not a fluke on a single busy day.

Get a feeder up before the first bird arrives, not after. Eddy County sees real activity by the last week of March; the rest of the state follows within two weeks. A feeder out by mid-March costs you nothing, while one still packed away when the first scout turns up costs you the sighting. This is also the month to check last year's feeder for cracked seals and worn ports. 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: Black-chinned Plateaus Near Its Peak

May is when Black-chinned effectively arrives at full strength statewide — 37.9% to 39.2% of checklists across the month, barely below where it'll sit at its official July peak. Broad-tailed keeps climbing but isn't there yet, 18% to 21%. Every county we track is reliably common by now. In Hidalgo County, Broad-billed Hummingbird has its own early-season high point this month, 4.2% in the third week, before a bigger push in July. Rufous and Calliope are both still completely absent statewide — their season is still six or more weeks out.

June: Nesting Settles In, Then the Passage Begins Late

Black-chinned and Broad-tailed both hold steady through most of June as birds settle into nesting — females become secretive around the nest, which can make feeder activity look quieter even though the birds haven't gone anywhere. Statewide, Rufous and Calliope are still at zero through the first three weeks. Then, right at the very end of the month, Rufous makes its first real move — 0.97% of checklists in the last week of June, the opening signal of a passage that will dominate July and August. Catron County sees it earliest and strongest: 6.0% by the last week of June, well ahead of the statewide number.

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July: Black-chinned's Statewide Peak, and the Real Passage Begins

July holds Black-chinned's statewide high point — 39.9% of checklists in the third week — but it's also when the state's whole character changes. Rufous climbs from 5.9% to 27.4% across the month, and Calliope from 0.8% to 7.2%, both moving through in numbers most states never see from either species. Catron County runs hottest of all for Rufous, already at 30.3% by the fourth week. In the Bootheel, Broad-billed hits its real peak this month too — 9.3% of Hidalgo checklists in the second week, its highest point anywhere in the state. July is genuinely the month every one of New Mexico's main species is doing something at once.

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. With this many species converging on feeders at once, competition for a clean, pest-free station matters more in New Mexico in July than almost anywhere else in this series. 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 AspenPerch® →  |  Shop Hummguard™ →

August: Broad-tailed and Rufous Both Peak

August is the second half of New Mexico's double peak. Broad-tailed reaches its own statewide high here, 30.7% of checklists in the third week, and Rufous peaks even earlier in the month, 30.1% in the first week — genuinely comparable numbers, in the same month, from two different species. Black-chinned is easing back from its July high but still strong, 37% to 40% — though Bernalillo County's own number is far higher, 62.5% of Albuquerque-area checklists in the first week of August, the single highest reading anywhere in this dataset. Grant County's Rufous is the strongest Rufous signal anywhere we track in the state: 41.9% of Silver City-area checklists in the first week of August. Calliope holds near its own peak too, 6.4% to 7.0%. Every main species is present and countable at once this month — if you only watch feeders one week a year, this is it.

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September: A Statewide Decline, and a Later Peak in the Bootheel

Statewide, every main species is easing off from its summer high — Black-chinned from 36% to 18%, Broad-tailed from 27% to 12%, Rufous from 21% to 8%, Calliope from 6% to 1% across the month. But Hidalgo County runs on its own calendar here. Rufous doesn't peak statewide until August, but in the Bootheel it keeps climbing into September, reaching its own high point of 20.2% in the third week — a full month after the state as a whole. Calliope does the same thing, and goes further: 11.6% of Hidalgo checklists in the first week of September, actually higher than Calliope's own statewide peak in July. Whatever's driving that lag, the Bootheel isn't just a smaller version of the statewide pattern — it's genuinely running later and, for Calliope, bigger.

Seeing one bird chase everyone else off a feeder? With this many species moving through at once, a resident claiming a feeder and a nearby swing as guarded territory is common this time of year. 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. Shop a second feeder →  |  Shop swings →

October: The Fast Exit

October is when most of New Mexico's hummingbirds leave, and it happens quickly. Statewide, Black-chinned falls from 10.7% in the first week to 1.1% by the third and under 1% by the fourth; Broad-tailed and Rufous both follow the same steep drop. Eddy County empties earliest — down to 0.7% by the second week — while Grant and Hidalgo, in the southwest, hold on longest: Grant is still at 14.3% in the first week and Hidalgo at 10%, both well above the statewide pace. By the last week of the month, the main breeding season is over almost everywhere in the state.

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November: Statewide Quiet, Grant County's Anna's Builds

Statewide, hummingbirds are essentially gone in November. Grant County is the exception, and it's building toward its own high point: Anna's Hummingbird climbs from 4.4% in the first week to a real, sustained presence through the rest of the month, on its way to what will be its strongest stretch of the whole year. Rivoli's Hummingbird holds on at a thinner but genuine 0.3% to 1.4% alongside it. Nowhere else in the state shows anything comparable this month.

December: The Deep Quiet, Except in Grant County

December is New Mexico's quietest month almost everywhere — Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufous, and Calliope are all effectively at zero statewide. Grant County's Anna's Hummingbird is still present, 1.2% to 2.1% of Silver City-area checklists across the month, tapering from November's build but genuinely there — not a fresh arrival, but the tail end of a season that actually started back in September. If you're in Grant County or the Bootheel and keep a feeder up through winter, December is exactly when it can pay off.

The Year at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

When do hummingbirds come back to New Mexico?

Eddy County (Carlsbad) sees the first real arrivals in the last week of March. Bernalillo (Albuquerque) and Grant (Silver City) follow in the first week of April, and Catron and Hidalgo counties a week or so behind that. Statewide, reliably common arrivals settle in through April and into early May, and feeders should be up by mid-March in Eddy County and by the last week of March everywhere else.

When do hummingbirds leave New Mexico?

Most of the state by mid-to-late October, but not all of it at once. Eddy County empties earliest, down under 1% of checklists by the second week of October. Grant and Hidalgo counties, in the southwest, hold on longest — both still well above 10% in the first week of October, roughly two weeks behind the rest of the state. Statewide, the season is effectively over by early November, except for Grant County's real winter Anna's presence.

When do hummingbirds leave the Bootheel?

Later than the rest of the state, and the departure isn't as clean. Hidalgo County's Rufous doesn't even peak until mid-September — a full month after the statewide high point — and Black-chinned there is still at 10% of checklists in the first week of October, when most of the rest of New Mexico has already dropped well below that. The Bootheel runs on a genuinely later calendar than the state as a whole.

Are there hummingbirds in New Mexico in winter?

Statewide, no — by December, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufous, and Calliope are all essentially absent. Grant County is the real exception: Anna's Hummingbird is present in genuine, recurring numbers from around September through January, peaking in October and November, and Rivoli's Hummingbird holds on at a thinner but real level too. If you're not in the far southwest of the state, winter hummingbird activity is a long shot; if you are, it's a real possibility worth a feeder left up.

What types of hummingbirds are in New Mexico?

Seventeen species have accepted New Mexico records, more than any state we've covered. Black-chinned and Broad-tailed are both real, statewide breeders. Rufous and Calliope pass through in real numbers each summer without breeding here. Lucifer, Broad-billed, Rivoli's, and Violet-crowned are genuine breeders too, but only in the far southwest corner. Anna's and Costa's are real, recurring visitors, and Ruby-throated — the default species almost everywhere else in this series — is a genuine New Mexico rarity. The remaining six — Allen's, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, White-eared, Berylline, Cinnamon, and Mexican Violetear — each have only a handful of accepted records. See our full guide to all 17 species for details on each.

Should I keep a feeder up through a New Mexico winter?

It depends where you are. Statewide, winter hummingbird activity is genuinely rare, and a feeder left up most places won't see much traffic. In Grant County and the broader southwest corner, it's a different story — Anna's Hummingbird is real and recurring there from fall into January, and a feeder left up gives it somewhere to be. Whatever you see at a winter feeder in the southwest is worth a photograph.

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. That question is genuinely harder to answer honestly for New Mexico than for almost any other state in this series: there isn't one breeder and one timeline, there are two real statewide breeders running side by side, a major migrant passage layered on top, and a whole separate southwest-corner calendar most of the state never sees. A single date, or even a single species, would leave out most of what's actually happening here. We wanted a calendar that tells the truth about all of it, not just the biggest number.

How We Built This Calendar

We pulled eBird bar chart data for New Mexico statewide and for five counties — Bernalillo (Albuquerque), Grant (Silver City), Catron, Hidalgo (the Bootheel), and Eddy (Carlsbad) — chosen to span the state's population center, its western mountains, and its two genuinely different southern corners, covering 2016 through 2025, and read the seasonal shape and regional pattern directly off the reporting rates ourselves.

Two definitions drive every regional date on this page. "Arrives" and "leaves" are the first and last of two consecutive weeks in which at least 1% of a region's checklists report the species, backed by at least five real checklists behind that percentage, since a thinly-birded region can cross a percentage line on a handful of reports that a busier one never would. "Reliably common" is the first week a region's reports reach 25% of that region's own peak, not a statewide one, because a metro county and a remote mountain county don't share a baseline.

One real limitation of this method is worth stating plainly, because it affects how one county's numbers should be read. The "first of two consecutive qualifying weeks" definition assumes a species has one clean arrival and one clean departure inside a single calendar year. Grant County's Rufous Hummingbird doesn't fit that: the real, robustly-supported season is one unbroken 20-week block from late June through mid-November, but a small, genuine tail of lingering birds is still present into the first two weeks of January, before a true, total absence resumes through most of the spring. Scanned in strict calendar order, that January tail looks like the "first" qualifying window of the year, which would mislabel a real July arrival as a January one. We caught this by checking the raw week-by-week qualification directly rather than trusting the automated label, and we describe Grant County's Rufous by its real season — late June through mid-November, with a genuine winter tail — rather than the literal scan result. The same underlying pattern shows up in Grant County's Anna's Hummingbird, which is a real, continuous presence from roughly September through January rather than a fresh January arrival; we describe it the same way, by its actual shape, for the same reason.

Six more species — Allen's, Blue-throated Mountain-gem, White-eared, Berylline, Cinnamon, and Mexican Violetear — are all real, committee-accepted New Mexico birds with too few total records for a reliable weekly pattern, and can't be charted.

The genuine finding worth calling out is really two findings, at two different scales. Statewide, New Mexico's own peak numbers are striking on their own: Black-chinned tops 39% of checklists at its statewide high, and Bernalillo County's own number runs even higher — 62.5% of Albuquerque-area checklists in the first week of August, the single highest reading anywhere in this dataset, in any county, for any species. That's not a typical backyard-feeder county; it's a metro area with unusually dense, unusually thorough birding coverage layered on top of a genuinely strong bird population. At the regional level: the Bootheel doesn't just run a smaller, later version of the statewide pattern — for Calliope specifically, it runs a bigger one. Calliope's statewide peak is 7.2% of checklists in late July; in Hidalgo County, it reaches 11.6% in early September, over a month later and meaningfully higher. Whatever's driving that — a real concentration point along a migration route, most likely, though the data records presence and rate rather than cause — it's a genuinely different pattern from the rest of the state, not a smaller echo of it. The regional comparison, the checklist-backed thresholds, and the correction to Grant County's wraparound labeling are original analysis on our part, not a rewrite of eBird's own bar charts.

Sources

• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — New Mexico statewide and county-level (Bernalillo, Grant, Catron, Hidalgo, Eddy), 2016-2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the regional arrival/departure pattern.
• Checklist of New Mexico Bird Species and the New Mexico Bird Records Committee (NMBRC), New Mexico Ornithological Society. Source for each species' accepted status and review-list designation.

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