Aug 05, 2026
Tennessee Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar
Timing derived from eBird data, 2016–2025 (sourced Aug 2026)
Tennessee's hummingbird year runs on a real west-to-east gradient — Memphis sees the first scouts while the Smokies are still waiting — plus a genuine winter chapter most states don't get: Rufous Hummingbird has gone from a single confirmed record before the late 1980s to Tennessee's official "Regular" winter visitor today. Here's how the year actually unfolds, region by region.
The short answer: late March in West Tennessee, early April in Middle and East Tennessee, and most Ruby-throateds are gone again by late October.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| When do they arrive? | Late March in West Tennessee, early April in Middle and East Tennessee |
| When should feeders go up? | Late March in West Tennessee; early April elsewhere — the whole state stays quiet before mid-to-late March |
| When do they nest? | Late May through late July |
| When do they leave? | From August; most gone by late October |
| Any in winter? | Rufous, Tennessee's official "Regular" winter visitor — plus Black-chinned in smaller numbers most years |
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Arrival windows region by region, when to hang feeders in your part of the state, and when to watch for Rufous — printed small enough to tape inside the shed door.
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Tennessee's Hummingbird Season at a Glance
Before the region-by-region detail below, here's the whole season in two pictures — Ruby-throated's full-season curve, and the winter visitors worth watching for, shown at their own scale since they're a small fraction of Ruby-throated's numbers.
How often each species turns up on eBird checklists, week by week — statewide, 2016–2025. The regional breakdown below shows exactly when that wave reaches your part of the state.
Regional Arrival Snapshot
| County | Ruby-throated First Arrivals | Reliably Common By |
|---|---|---|
| Shelby (Memphis) | Late March | Mid-April |
| Hamilton (Chattanooga) | Early April | Mid-April |
| Davidson (Nashville) | Early April | Late April |
| Knox (Knoxville) | Early April | Early May |
| Sevier (Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains) | Early April | Early May |
Windows derived from eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016–2025, for Shelby, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Sevier counties. "First arrivals" is the first week reporting rises clearly above the winter baseline; "reliably common" is the first week each county's reports reach 25% of that county's seasonal peak. Knox and Sevier see scouts right on schedule but take noticeably longer to build to a reliable presence — likely an elevation effect in East Tennessee's higher terrain as much as pure west-to-east geography.
January & February: Winter's Back Half, Rufous Still Possible
Ruby-throated is completely absent statewide through both months — the state's one breeding species doesn't return until spring. Rufous Hummingbird, though, can still be genuinely present: birds that arrived the previous fall regularly linger into January and February, and some banded individuals return to the same yard winter after winter. A feeder left up through this stretch isn't wasted effort.
What to do: If you already have a bird at your feeder, keep the nectar from freezing on cold nights and keep watching — a January or February visitor is very likely the same Rufous that's been present since fall, not a fresh arrival. More on why this happens at all, and how common it's become, is below in the November section. Our winter hummingbird feeder care guide covers heated feeders and the two-feeder swap.
Late March: West Tennessee Wakes Up First
| Shelby (Memphis) | First scouts reach the Mississippi River corridor by late March. |
| Rest of Tennessee | Genuinely quiet — our own county-level data shows essentially zero presence anywhere else in the state this early. |
These are scattered early individuals, not yet a reliable population — but it's worth having a feeder up in West Tennessee by this point.
Put the feeder out before you expect birds, not after.
Hummingbirds have exceptional spatial memory and return to reliable food sources year after year — being first in the neighborhood pays off for seasons. 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® →April & Early May: The Wave Moves East
| Early April | Hamilton (Chattanooga), Davidson (Nashville), Knox (Knoxville), and Sevier (Gatlinburg) all see their first scouts. |
| Mid-April | Shelby and Hamilton reliably common. |
| Late April | Davidson reliably common. |
| Early May | Knox and Sevier reliably common — East Tennessee's higher terrain takes the wave the longest to fully settle into. |
Males arrive first and establish territories, with females following about two weeks later — so a quiet feeder in early spring is normal, not a sign anything's wrong.
Late May, June & July: Nesting Season
Tennessee's breeding Ruby-throateds settle in and nest statewide. Feeder activity can taper off somewhat as females become secretive around the nest, though it never goes fully silent — one Nashville yard alone had 353 individual birds banded between early June and late September of 2008, a good reminder that a well-stocked feeder keeps drawing traffic straight through nesting season.
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 →Keep the insecticide away from nesting territory too. Females need small insects and spiders for protein while they're raising young, and spider silk is what actually binds the nest together — spraying near the feeder can cost them a food source, not just protect one.
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: Southbound Movement Begins
| August | Southbound movement begins, adult males first. |
Adult males slip south ahead of females and this year's young — the first sign the season has turned.
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: The Statewide Peak
| Early-to-mid September | Statewide peak — this year's fledglings join the adults at feeders before the wave turns south. |
This year's fledglings joining the adults right as the wave turns south is what makes September reliably the busiest stretch of the whole year, in every region of the state.
October: Fall Migration Runs Longer Than Expected
| Early-to-mid October | Still real activity in every region we checked — numbers only drop close to zero by very late October. |
Fall migration runs longer than many people expect. Every county we checked, including East Tennessee's Knox and Sevier, still showed meaningful Ruby-throated activity into early-to-mid October before tapering off toward the end of the month.
This is the planting month.
Sow now and native wildflowers get the cold, moist period most varieties need to bloom reliably next spring.
Shop the Perfect Little Sanctuary® blend →November & December: Winter Returns, With a Genuine Regular Visitor
By this point in the year, Tennessee's story is genuinely different from most states. Rufous Hummingbird is Tennessee's official "Regular" winter visitor, per the state's own bird records committee — and the trend has only grown: before the late 1980s there was a single confirmed Tennessee record, and by winter 2007–08 there had been more than 100. Some banded individuals return to the same yard year after year.
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 Rufous, or a displaced resident — its own station to guard instead of fighting over one.
Shop a second swing →Black-chinned Hummingbird turns up most winters too, in smaller numbers than Rufous — classified "Casual," a genuine step above a one-off. Broad-billed Hummingbird is a level above that too: with two accepted records only a few years apart, the state's records committee classifies it "Rare/Casual" rather than a pure one-off. The remaining true one-time rarities — Anna's, Calliope, Allen's, Broad-tailed, and Mexican Violetear — are all on Tennessee's confirmed record list, each classified "Accidental."
Pop's tip: Consider leaving at least one feeder up through mid-November or later. Western vagrants are increasingly being spotted in Tennessee well into the colder months, and Rufous alone is common enough now that a winter feeder is a genuine, not just theoretical, chance at a visitor.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do hummingbirds come back to Tennessee?
Late March in the far west, and about two to three weeks later farther east. Shelby County (Memphis) sees the first scouts by late March; Knox and Sevier counties in East Tennessee typically follow last, not reliably common until early May.
When do hummingbirds leave Tennessee?
Southbound movement starts in August, and most breeding Ruby-throateds are gone from the state by late October. Rufous Hummingbirds — Tennessee's official regular winter visitor — arrive as the breeders leave.
How long do hummingbirds stay in Tennessee?
Roughly seven months for the breeding population, from late March arrival in West Tennessee through late October departure. The season runs a couple of weeks shorter in East Tennessee, where they arrive later.
Why is my Knoxville or Gatlinburg feeder quiet in April?
Because the wave hasn't fully settled in yet. Ruby-throated becomes reliably common in Knox and Sevier counties by early May — East Tennessee's higher terrain takes the longest to build to a full presence, even though scouts arrive on schedule.
Should I keep a feeder up through a Tennessee winter?
Yes, more so than in most states. Rufous is Tennessee's official "Regular" winter visitor, and Black-chinned turns up most years too. Keeping a feeder up into December, or later, gives you a genuine chance at hosting one.
Why We Built This Calendar
Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations, and one of the questions we hear most is simply when — when to put a feeder up, when it's safe to take one down, when something unusual might show up. Tennessee's answer is more interesting than most: a real two-to-three-week gap between Memphis and the Smokies, and a genuine winter chapter most states don't get — Rufous Hummingbird has gone from a single confirmed record before the late 1980s to the state's official "Regular" winter visitor today. We built this page to give a direct, sourced answer to all three.
How We Built This Calendar
We pulled eBird bar chart data for Tennessee statewide and for five counties — Shelby (Memphis), Davidson (Nashville), Hamilton (Chattanooga), Knox (Knoxville), and Sevier (Gatlinburg/Smoky Mountains) — 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.
Sources
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Tennessee statewide and county-level (Shelby, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Sevier), 2016–2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the west-to-east regional arrival pattern.
- Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Ruby-throated Hummingbird species page. Source for the 353-bird Nashville banding record and historical Rufous record counts.
- Official List of the Birds of Tennessee, Tennessee Bird Records Committee (December 2024). Source for each species' official status (Regular, Casual, Accidental).
- 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 Tennessee'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.
