Sep 16, 2026
South Dakota Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar
Timing derived from eBird checklist data, 2016–2025, sourced September 2026.
South Dakota is really two different bird communities sharing one state. Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the state's only regular breeder, and it's an eastern bird — Sioux Falls and the rest of the eastern third get a real season, while it barely reaches the Black Hills at all. Statewide, Ruby-throated arrives in mid-May, eases through a June lull, then builds to an even bigger late-summer peak in early September before clearing out. The Black Hills, in the state's far west, tell a completely different story: Broad-tailed Hummingbird breeds there every year, and Rufous Hummingbird passes through most years too — both officially "Regular" by the state's own records committee, just confined to a part of the state Ruby-throated barely touches.
The short answer: put feeders up by early May. Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrives statewide in mid-May (Sioux Falls a little earlier, in early May), peaks in late August and early September, when about one in twelve birdwatchers statewide reports one, and leaves South Dakota by late September. If you're in the Black Hills, plan around a different calendar: Broad-tailed breeds there from late May into midsummer, and Rufous passes through in August. See The Black Hills: A Different Bird Community below.
Quick Answers
| Question | South Dakota answer |
|---|---|
| When do hummingbirds arrive? | Mid-May statewide; early May in Sioux Falls. The Black Hills run on a different calendar entirely |
| When should feeders go up? | By early May, ahead of the mid-May arrival |
| When do they nest? | June, when Ruby-throated numbers dip statewide as females sit on nests |
| Busiest months? | Late August into early September — about one in twelve birdwatchers statewide, and about one in seven in Sioux Falls |
| When do hummingbirds leave South Dakota? | Late September statewide; Sioux Falls clears about two weeks sooner, by mid-September |
| Anything in winter? | No — the state's rare western visitors show up between summer and late fall, never in winter |
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South Dakota Hummingbirds at a Glance
South Dakota's Ruby-throated season has two real high points, not one. Statewide, sightings climb to a spring high in mid-May, when about one in twenty birdwatchers reports one, fall back to less than half that through June and early July as females incubate, then build to an even bigger peak in the last week of August and first week of September, at about one in twelve. Sioux Falls drives that fall peak hardest of anywhere in the state, with about one in seven birdwatchers there reporting one in the last week of August.
The Regions on This Page
South Dakota's hummingbird activity is concentrated in two very different counties, and this page uses both:
Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls). The state's most heavily birded county, in the far southeast.
Pennington County (Rapid City). The Black Hills, in the state's far west — a genuinely different bird community.
One thing to know before you start: Sioux Falls logs real volume most of the year, but Black Hills counties run much thinner — a few hundred checklists a week at best, dropping to a few dozen in the smaller counties. Where a Black Hills date rests on a genuinely thin sample, the section below says so directly.
The Black Hills: A Different Bird Community
Ruby-throated barely reaches the Black Hills at all — Lawrence and Fall River counties show only scattered, brief September records, not a real season. What lives there instead are two species South Dakota's own records committee (the South Dakota Ornithologists' Union) codes as "Regular" occurrence, just geographically confined to the west.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird is a genuine, if not perfectly-annual, Black Hills breeder — present every single year of the last ten in the west, per the SDOU's own checklist, though an actual confirmed nest isn't documented every one of those years. Rapid City (Pennington County) carries the strongest signal: a real, if thin, presence from late May into late July, reported by roughly one or two birdwatchers in every hundred, with a softer tail into mid-August. Custer, Lawrence and Meade counties show the same pattern at lower volume — Lawrence's peaks in late June and early July, Custer's is thin and scattered June through August, and Meade's is thinnest of all, a handful of checklists in late July and early August.
Rufous Hummingbird passes through the Black Hills most years too, but purely as a migrant refueling on its way south — it has never been confirmed breeding anywhere in South Dakota. Rapid City shows the state's clearest signal, arriving in early August and tapering off by late August. Meade County's numbers are much thinner, but a handful of Rufous sightings turn up there in late July and early August too, in the same weeks as the cluster of rare southwestern species described below.
Rare and Historic Visitors
Two more species have a genuine, if infrequent, recurring presence in South Dakota. Calliope Hummingbird is coded "Casual" by the SDOU — occurring in 4 to 6 of the last 10 years — with real signal spread across four different western counties (Fall River, Meade, Lawrence and Pennington), consistent with a genuine if thin recurring pattern rather than one-off vagrants. Anna's Hummingbird carries the same "Casual" status, upgraded by the committee from "Accidental" after a real pattern of occurrence emerged since the state's first record, a male in Rapid City in October 2008.
Three more species are genuinely rarer, coded "Accidental" by the SDOU (0 to 2 of the last 10 years), and all three are confined to western South Dakota. Black-chinned Hummingbird and Costa's Hummingbird have both been documented in the Missouri River corridor and points west, never in the eastern part of the state. Meade County (Sturgis) alone has produced brief record clusters of both species, plus that county's own Rufous passage described above, all within a similar late-summer window. Rivoli's Hummingbird is rarer still: a single accepted South Dakota record, the only one of this group ever documented in the state's eastern half.
January – April: The Quiet Season
There are no Ruby-throated Hummingbirds anywhere in South Dakota through the winter and into early spring. The first real statewide signal doesn't appear until mid-May, so January through April stay essentially empty.
Get your feeder up before the season starts, not after.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird's first South Dakota arrivals show up in mid-May, so a feeder out by early May costs nothing — one still in storage when the first bird arrives costs you the sighting. This 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.
Shop AspenPerch® →May: The Spring Arrival
Ruby-throated arrives statewide in mid-May, climbing to its spring peak in the third week, when about one in twenty birdwatchers reports one. Sioux Falls runs ahead of the statewide average: about one in fifteen by the second week, and about one in twelve through the rest of the month. In the Black Hills, Rapid City's Broad-tailed arrives late in the month — see The Black Hills above.
June: Nesting Season
Statewide numbers drop by more than half in June, to between a quarter and a third of the spring high, as females settle in to incubate. Sioux Falls follows a similar dip but stays jumpier, swinging between about one in forty and one in fifteen birdwatchers from week to week.
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: The Rebuild Begins
Statewide numbers inch back up through July, to about one in fifty birdwatchers by the last week, as young birds fledge and join the season's second push. Sioux Falls climbs faster, gaining about a third by mid-month. This is also the window — late July — when Meade County's cluster of rare southwestern visitors shows up most years; see Rare and Historic Visitors above.
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 Real Peak
August is South Dakota's busiest month statewide. Ruby-throated sightings nearly triple over the month, reaching about one in thirteen birdwatchers by the last week — and Sioux Falls climbs even further, to about one in seven that same week, the highest rate anywhere on this page. In the Black Hills, this is also when Rapid City's Rufous passage runs its course, arriving early in the month and tapering off by the last week.
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.
September: When Hummingbirds Leave South Dakota
The peak actually carries into the first week of September before the exit begins in earnest. Statewide, sightings stay near their peak into that first week, then fall to about a quarter of it by the last week of September, and Ruby-throated leaves South Dakota by late September. Sioux Falls, despite driving the state's biggest numbers all summer, clears a little sooner — by mid-September, per the state's own records.
| Region | Leaves by |
|---|---|
| Statewide | Late September |
| Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls) | Mid-September |
October: Feeders Down, Seed In
October is the tail end. A few late birds are still moving through in the first week or two, and then the state goes quiet.
What to do: Leave feeders up until two weeks after your last sighting, which for most of South Dakota means early-to-mid October. The late birds still moving through are the ones that need a full feeder most.
This is the planting month.
South Dakota's last Ruby-throateds are gone by late September, which makes October the time to sow. Native wildflower seed needs the cold, moist winter most varieties require to bloom reliably next spring.
Shop the Perfect Little Sanctuary® blend →November & December: The Quiet Season Returns
By November, South Dakota's Ruby-throateds are gone for the year, and the state has no winter-resident species. The rare western visitors described above are strictly a summer-into-fall phenomenon — none of them have been documented in South Dakota in winter.
The Year at a Glance
| Month | What's happening |
|---|---|
| January – April | Empty statewide; no real signal anywhere yet |
| May | Spring arrival — mid-May statewide, early May in Sioux Falls |
| June | Nesting dip, statewide and in Sioux Falls |
| July | Numbers rebuild; Meade County's rare-visitor cluster shows up most years |
| August | Building toward the year's peak — Sioux Falls' fall wave and the Black Hills' Rufous passage both underway |
| September | Peak carries into early September, then a fast exit — Sioux Falls clears first, statewide a couple weeks later |
| October | Last few stragglers; feeders down and wildflower seed in |
| November – December | Empty — no winter presence anywhere in the state |
Frequently Asked Questions
When do hummingbirds arrive in South Dakota?
Statewide, in mid-May. Sioux Falls (Minnehaha County) runs a little ahead, with real numbers by early May. The Black Hills, in the far west, follow a completely different calendar built around Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbird rather than Ruby-throated — see The Black Hills: A Different Bird Community above.
When do hummingbirds leave South Dakota?
By late September statewide. Sioux Falls, despite carrying the state's biggest numbers all summer, clears about two weeks sooner, by mid-September.
When should I put my hummingbird feeder up in South Dakota?
By early May, a week or two ahead of the mid-May statewide arrival.
When should I take my hummingbird feeder down in South Dakota?
Two weeks after your last sighting, which for most of the state means early-to-mid October. South Dakota's hummingbirds are gone by then in an ordinary year regardless, so leaving a feeder up costs nothing.
What is the best time to see hummingbirds in South Dakota?
Late August into early September, when about one in twelve birdwatchers statewide reports a Ruby-throated — and about one in seven in Sioux Falls, the highest rate anywhere on this page.
Are there hummingbirds in South Dakota in winter?
No. Ruby-throated is gone by late September, and South Dakota has no winter-resident species. The state's rare western visitors — Calliope, Anna's, Black-chinned and Costa's — are all summer-into-fall records, never winter ones.
Why We Built This Calendar
Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations, and "when do hummingbirds arrive in my state?" is one of the questions we hear most. South Dakota's answer depends entirely on where you live: Ruby-throated Hummingbird's real season, spring wave and even-bigger fall surge included, belongs to the eastern third of the state, while the Black Hills run on Broad-tailed and Rufous Hummingbird instead — both genuinely regular there, just invisible in a statewide-only view. We built this calendar to show both stories honestly, rather than flattening South Dakota into a single statewide date that fits neither region well.
How We Built This Calendar
Every date here comes from ten years of eBird checklists (2016–2025), read week by week, for South Dakota as a whole plus Minnehaha (Sioux Falls) and Pennington (Rapid City) counties, with the Black Hills' smaller counties (Custer, Fall River, Lawrence and Meade) checked the same way. Species status comes from the South Dakota Ornithologists' Union's state checklist, not from how often a bird gets reported, which is why Broad-tailed and Rufous count as regular in the Black Hills. Where a county's numbers are thin, we say so rather than calling it a season.
Sources
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — South Dakota statewide, Minnehaha and Pennington counties, 2016–2025.
- State Distributional Checklist, South Dakota Ornithologists' Union — species status, occurrence frequency, and regional (East/River/West) year-counts for every species on this page.
- Drilling, N., et al. 2018. Second Atlas of Breeding Birds of South Dakota, South Dakota Ornithologists' Union / South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks — Black Hills breeding confirmation for Broad-tailed Hummingbird.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — breeding range boundary.
- 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 South Dakota'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.
