Aug 24, 2026
Washington Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar
Washington doesn't have one hummingbird season — it has four, stacked on top of each other. Anna's Hummingbird never really leaves. Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned each keep their own real breeding window, peaking in a genuine staggered order across the year. And the whole state splits cleanly along the Cascades: Anna's is common west of them and thin east of them, while the three breeders arrive on the coast nearly a month before they reach the state's dry side.
The short answer: Anna's Hummingbird is a genuine year-round resident, common west of the Cascades and present, if thin, statewide all 48 weeks of the year. Rufous Hummingbird is Washington's common, widespread breeder, arriving early March on the coast and around Puget Sound, about a month later east of the Cascades, and gone from most of the state by mid-September. Calliope and Black-chinned Hummingbird breed mainly east of the Cascades, each with a real, distinct season of its own.
Washington Hummingbird Timing at a Glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Arrive | Early March west of the Cascades (Seattle, Everett, the Olympic Peninsula); early April east of them (Wenatchee, Ellensburg, Yakima) |
| Feeders up | Year-round in western Washington for resident Anna's; by late February east of the Cascades to be ready for Rufous |
| Nesting begins | Shortly after each species' arrival — Rufous first, then Calliope, then Black-chinned last |
| Busiest month | February for Anna's statewide peak; varies by region and species for the three breeders (see month-by-month, below) |
| Leave | Late August in Kittitas County to late September in Yakima County — most of the state by mid-September |
| Winter | Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned all gone. Anna's remains — common in the west, a real if thin presence in the east |
New to feeding hummingbirds? Start with our guide to attracting hummingbirds in Washington for species, feeders, nectar, and native plants. This page is the timing deep dive.
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Washington's Hummingbird Season at a Glance
Anna's Hummingbird is common enough, year-round, that showing it alongside Washington's three breeders on one shared-scale chart flattens the smaller two into what looks like a flat line. So this is two charts, not one — each showing a real season shape instead of a flattened one.
Anna's, Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned Hummingbird, statewide, shared scale. Anna's dominance and Rufous's real breeding bump are both clear here — but Calliope and Black-chinned are close to the bottom edge on this scale.
That chart tells you who's biggest, but it hides who's smallest — Anna's huge, steady presence visually flattens Calliope and Black-chinned into what looks like a flat line next to it, even though each has a real season of its own. Here's the same four species again, but each one scaled to its own peak instead of a shared one, so a species you'd never spot on the chart above still shows its actual shape below.
Same four species, each normalized to its own peak. A real, checked finding here: the three breeders peak in a genuine staggered order — Rufous first, then Calliope, then Black-chinned last.
Regions used on this page: Clallam (Olympic Peninsula), King (Seattle), and Snohomish (Everett) west of the Cascades; Chelan (Wenatchee), Kittitas (Ellensburg), and Yakima (Yakima) east of them — a real coast-to-dry-side spread across the Cascade divide.
One thing to know before you read the month-by-month detail: Anna's Hummingbird is technically present all 48 weeks of the year in every region we track — but "present" means something very different on each side of the Cascades. In King, Snohomish, and Clallam Counties, Anna's shows up on 20–53% of checklists year-round — a real, dominant backyard bird. In Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima Counties, that same species barely clears 1–16% — present, but a genuine rarity by comparison. Same species, same year-round status, two completely different real experiences depending on which side of the mountains you're on.
January: Anna's Country
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird is the only species around, building toward its real winter peak. Common at western Washington feeders; a genuine but thin presence east of the Cascades. |
What to do: If you're west of the Cascades, keep your feeder up — you likely have wintering Anna's already. A leak-proof design matters most right now, since a frozen or clogged feeder in January is a real problem, not a minor one.
February: Anna's Statewide Peak
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird hits its single busiest week of the entire year, statewide, in mid-February — still weeks before any of the three breeders arrive. |
What to do: This is peak Anna's season west of the Cascades — make sure feeders are thawing out and topped up through any late-winter cold snaps.
March: Rufous Arrives on the Coast
| Clallam, King & Snohomish | First Rufous Hummingbirds of spring arrive in early March — a full month ahead of the state's east side. |
| Chelan, Kittitas & Yakima | Still quiet aside from Anna's — Rufous arrival is about a month away. |
What to do: Have feeders up by late February if you're west of the Cascades — Rufous males typically arrive first and won't wait for a feeder to go up.
April: Calliope and Black-chinned Join In
| Chelan, Kittitas & Yakima | Rufous Hummingbird finally arrives east of the Cascades. Calliope and Black-chinned Hummingbird begin arriving too, mainly in this part of the state. |
| West of the Cascades | Rufous already well established; nesting underway. |
May: Rufous Peaks in the West and Chelan
| Chelan | Rufous Hummingbird's busiest week of the year here — the earliest peak of any tracked region. |
| Statewide | Calliope Hummingbird approaching its own peak, slightly behind Rufous's real breeding timeline. |
What to do: Keep feeders clean and full even if visits seem to drop off in nesting territory — that's incubation behavior, not birds leaving.
June: Rufous Peaks Around Puget Sound
| King & Snohomish | Rufous Hummingbird's busiest week of the year here — about a month behind Chelan's own May peak. |
| Statewide | Black-chinned Hummingbird building toward its own peak, the last of the three breeders to reach it. |
What to do: Skip the insecticide near feeders — nesting females rely on small insects for protein alongside nectar.
July: Rufous Peaks East of the Cascades
| Kittitas & Yakima | Rufous Hummingbird's busiest week of the year here — the latest of any tracked region, roughly two months behind Chelan's May peak. |
| Statewide | Black-chinned Hummingbird at its real peak — last of the three breeders, exactly as the timing chart above shows. |
August: Kittitas Empties Out First
| Kittitas | Rufous Hummingbird leaves by late August — the first tracked region to empty out, despite being one of the last to peak. |
| Rest of the state | Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned all still present, numbers beginning to thin. |
September: Most of the State Leaves
| Clallam, King, Snohomish & Chelan | Rufous Hummingbird's last regular activity, by early September. |
| Yakima | Holds on longest of any tracked region — Rufous doesn't leave here until late September. |
What to do: Once your local Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned leave, don't take the feeder down — Anna's is still there, and will be all winter if you're west of the Cascades.
October & November: Anna's Alone, and Washington's Real Rarities
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird is the only species left anywhere in Washington. This is also when the state's genuine rarities have turned up historically — real, committee-reviewed records, though neither represents an annual pattern. |
What to do: A feeder left up this time of year is genuinely a long-shot rarity chance, not just an Anna's feeder. Washington's only accepted Ruby-throated Hummingbird record — ever — is from late October, near Ridgefield in Clark County. Costa's Hummingbird is a real Washington Bird Records Committee review species too, though its documented pattern traces almost entirely to one returning bird in Kittitas County, not a recurring visitor.
December: Anna's Builds Back Toward Its Peak
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird remains the only species around, numbers climbing back toward February's real statewide peak. |
What to do: Winter feeders need real attention in freezing weather — a frozen feeder helps no one. Check it daily during cold snaps if you're hosting wintering Anna's.
The Year at a Glance
| Month | What's Happening |
|---|---|
| January | Anna's only, building toward its winter peak |
| February | Anna's statewide annual peak |
| March | Rufous arrives west of the Cascades |
| April | Rufous arrives east of the Cascades; Calliope & Black-chinned begin |
| May | Rufous peaks in Chelan — earliest regional peak |
| June | Rufous peaks around Puget Sound (King & Snohomish) |
| July | Rufous peaks east of the Cascades; Black-chinned peaks statewide |
| August | Kittitas empties out first |
| September | Most regions empty out; Yakima holds on longest |
| October & November | Anna's alone statewide; Washington's documented rarities cluster here |
| December | Anna's builds back toward its February peak |
Frequently Asked Questions
When do hummingbirds arrive in Washington?
Early March west of the Cascades — Seattle, Everett, and the Olympic Peninsula. Early April east of them, in Wenatchee, Ellensburg, and Yakima — a real, roughly month-long gap.
When do hummingbirds leave Washington?
Late August in Kittitas County, the earliest of any tracked region, through late September in Yakima County, the latest. Most of the state is quiet by mid-September. Anna's Hummingbird doesn't leave at all — it's a genuine year-round resident.
Are there hummingbirds in Washington in the winter?
Yes — Anna's Hummingbird is a real, common year-round resident west of the Cascades, and a thinner but genuine presence east of them too. Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned are all gone by fall and don't return until spring.
Do hummingbirds stay in Seattle year-round?
Anna's Hummingbird does — it's common at King County feeders all 12 months. Rufous Hummingbird, Seattle's summer breeder, arrives in early March and is gone by early September.
What hummingbirds are in Washington?
Four species occur regularly: Anna's Hummingbird year-round, and Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned Hummingbird as real breeders each with its own season. Two more — Costa's and Ruby-throated Hummingbird — are genuine but rare, committee-reviewed records, not annual visitors.
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. Most timing advice online gives a single date for an entire state, which is exactly wrong for Washington: a Seattle backyard sees hummingbirds every week of the year, while a Yakima backyard sees a real, sharply bounded season that starts a month later and ends differently too. A single date would be genuinely misleading for most of the state.
How We Built This Calendar
Source and scope. eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2016–2025 — statewide, plus six counties chosen for real geographic spread across the Cascade divide: Clallam (Olympic Peninsula), King (Seattle), and Snohomish (Everett) west of the mountains; Chelan (Wenatchee), Kittitas (Ellensburg), and Yakima (Yakima) east of them.
How we handle outliers and rarities. We check every species against Washington's own accepted-records history from the Washington Bird Records Committee (WBRC), not just its eBird checklist volume. Costa's Hummingbird shows why: it's a real WBRC review species with 18 accepted records, but the checklist pattern here traces almost entirely to one returning bird in Kittitas County (2021–2022) — genuine, but not charted as a pattern. Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the clearest case of all: Washington's only accepted record is one bird, near Ridgefield in October 2017, and the eBird signal doesn't even correspond to that actual sighting — a reminder that raw checklist data and committee-accepted records can disagree, and the committee record is the one we trust.
A genuine finding. Anna's Hummingbird is confirmed present all 48 weeks of the year in every region we track — the year-round tier genuinely holds statewide. But its real abundance is dramatically different by region: 20–53% of checklists in western counties, versus 0.4–16% east of the Cascades. Same species, same status, two very different real experiences depending on which side of the mountains you're on.
Why two charts exist. Anna's dominance flattens Calliope and Black-chinned into what looks like a flat line on a shared scale. The second chart, each species normalized to its own peak, reveals a real, checked finding a shared-scale chart couldn't show: the three breeders peak in a genuine staggered order, Rufous first, then Calliope, then Black-chinned.
What's original here. The county-level regional comparison, the Anna's west/east magnitude finding, and the misidentification-and-vagrant handling on Costa's and Ruby-throated are Pop's Birding's own analysis of the raw eBird data and WBRC's published records — not a rewrite of eBird's own bar charts.
Sources
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Washington statewide and county-level (Clallam, King, Snohomish, Chelan, Kittitas, Yakima), 2016–2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the regional arrival/departure pattern.
- Washington Bird Records Committee (WBRC), a committee of the Washington Ornithological Society. Source for Washington's official rare-bird review process and the accepted-record counts for Costa's and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Want feeder setup, nectar ratios, and native plant picks for your part of the state? See our full guide to attracting hummingbirds in Washington.
Know before they arrive
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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.
