Delaware Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar

Timing derived from eBird checklist data, 2016–2025, sourced September 2026.

Delaware has one breeding hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and a season that starts in the south. Sussex County sees its first birds in mid-April, about a week before Dover and Wilmington, and the whole state peaks together in the first week of September.

The short answer: put feeders up by early April in Sussex County and mid-April everywhere else. Ruby-throated arrives in mid-April around Rehoboth Beach and late April around Dover and Wilmington, peaks in early September, when about one checklist in three statewide includes one, and leaves Delaware by mid-October, with the Dover area about a week sooner. Then, from mid-November, a few Rufous Hummingbirds arrive for the winter.

Quick Answers

Delaware Hummingbirds at a Glance

Delaware’s Ruby-throated season climbs in stages: a quick rise by early May, when about one birdwatcher in seven is reporting one, a steady early summer, then a long build through July and August to the state’s peak in the first week of September. The exit is fast, and by mid-October almost nothing is left.

That chart hides Delaware’s second hummingbird. Even at its peak, Rufous turns up on fewer than one checklist in a hundred, so next to Ruby-throated it would be a flat line along the bottom. Here it is again on its own scale, so its real season, from mid-November into January, shows up.

The Regions on This Page

January, February & March: The Quiet Season

January is the tail end of Delaware’s Rufous season: a handful of birds are still reported, and they fade out by the end of the month. February and March are empty. Ruby-throated doesn’t return until April.

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

Delaware’s first Ruby-throateds reach Sussex County in mid-April and the rest of the state about a week later, so a feeder that goes out in early April costs you nothing — one that’s still in the garage when the first bird turns up 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® →

April: Sussex First

The season opens in the south. Sussex County’s sightings become regular in the second week of April, and a week later about one birdwatcher in twenty there is reporting a hummingbird, while Kent and New Castle counties are only just getting their first. By the last week of April all three counties have birds, and about one checklist in fourteen statewide includes one.

Arrival is the first week a county’s hummingbird reports clear 1% of checklists, backed by at least five real checklists, and stay above that line. Sussex’s week rests on 21 checklists, Kent’s on 11 and New Castle’s on 158. The map above shows departure too.

What to do: Feeders up by early April in Sussex County and mid-April elsewhere. A feeder hanging a week early costs nothing; one that goes out after the first birds have come through misses them.

May: Common Statewide

By the first week of May, about one birdwatcher in seven across the state is reporting a Ruby-throated, up from fewer than one in thirty two weeks earlier. Around Wilmington it’s more than one in six by mid-May.

June & July: Nesting Season

Sightings hold steady through June, at about one checklist in seven statewide, then build through July to more than one in six. This is nesting season. Females build the nest and raise the young on their own: incubation takes about two weeks, and the young leave the nest about three weeks after hatching.

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 →

August & September: The Peak

August is the long climb, from about one statewide checklist in five to more than one in four, and the peak comes in the first week of September at about one in three. Around Wilmington the numbers run far higher: more than two checklists in five at the end of August, and about half in the first week of September, the busiest stretch anywhere on this page. This is the fueling season. Ruby-throateds feed hard before and during migration, and a study of birds stopping over on the Gulf Coast found that the leanest arrivals stayed longer to refuel (Zenzal & Moore, The Auk, 2016).

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.

Shop Nectarlyte® Powder 2 lb →

Shop Nectarade® Liquid 50.7 oz →

The exit starts right after the peak: by the last week of September, only about one statewide checklist in nine includes a hummingbird.

October: When Hummingbirds Leave Delaware

Ruby-throated leaves Delaware by mid-October. Kent County empties first, with its last regular sightings in early October, while Sussex and New Castle counties hold on one week longer. After mid-October only a few stragglers are reported, mostly around Rehoboth Beach.

What to do: Leave feeders up until two weeks after your last Ruby-throated, usually late October. Then think about leaving one up anyway — Delaware’s winter hummingbird is only a few weeks away.

This is the planting month.

Delaware’s Ruby-throateds are gone by mid-October, which makes the rest of the month the time to sow. 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: Rufous Season

As Ruby-throated leaves, Delaware’s winter hummingbird arrives. The Rufous Hummingbird turns up from mid-November and peaks in the first week of December. Even then it’s a handful of birds: about one checklist in a hundred statewide, and about one in forty around Wilmington, where most of the reports come from. The Delaware Bird Records Committee’s state list carries Rufous in plain type, as a species it doesn’t need documentation for — the only western hummingbird on the list treated that way.

Allen’s, Black-chinned and Calliope Hummingbirds are review species on the same list, meaning every sighting needs documentation. Allen’s and Black-chinned reports come mostly in late fall, from late October into January; Calliope reports are scattered and too few to show a season.

Seeing one bird chase everyone else off?

That’s usually a single bird 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 its own station to guard instead of fighting over one.

Shop a second swing →

What to do: Photograph any hummingbird at your feeder after October, especially its spread tail. Female and young Rufous and Allen’s are very hard to tell apart, and good photos are what the records committee needs.

The Year at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

When do hummingbirds arrive in Delaware?

In mid-April around Rehoboth Beach and the rest of Sussex County, and in late April around Dover and Wilmington. The whole state has birds by the last week of April.

When do hummingbirds leave Delaware?

By mid-October. The Dover area clears about a week sooner, in early October, and after that only a few stragglers are reported, mostly in Sussex County.

When should I put my hummingbird feeder up in Delaware?

Early April in Sussex County and mid-April everywhere else, so it's ready a week or two before the first arrivals.

Are there hummingbirds in Wilmington, Delaware?

Yes. The Wilmington area is the busiest part of the state: in the first week of September, about half of all New Castle County checklists include a Ruby-throated, and most of Delaware's winter Rufous Hummingbird reports come from there too.

Do hummingbirds stay in Delaware in winter?

Ruby-throated doesn't; it's gone by mid-October. But a few Rufous Hummingbirds arrive from mid-November, peak in early December, and some stay into January, most of them around Wilmington.

When should I take my hummingbird feeder down in Delaware?

Two weeks after your last Ruby-throated, which is usually late October. If you can keep the nectar from freezing, leaving one up through December gives you a real chance at a Rufous.

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 "when do hummingbirds arrive and leave my state?" Most timing advice gives Delaware a single date. But Sussex County gets its birds about a week before the rest of the state, Kent County loses them a week sooner, and the Wilmington area has both the biggest late-summer numbers and nearly all of the winter Rufous. We built this calendar to tell you what happens where you live, not an average of all three counties.

How We Built This Calendar

Every date on this page comes from eBird checklist data, 2016–2025, read week by week for Delaware statewide and all three counties: New Castle (Wilmington), Kent (Dover), and Sussex (Rehoboth Beach). Species status comes from the Delaware Bird Records Committee’s state list, and Ruby-throated’s nesting status from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge checklist. A county counts as arrived once hummingbirds appear on at least 1% of its checklists, backed by at least five real checklists, and we check the raw count behind every date. The county comparison is our own analysis; eBird’s own bar charts show one statewide season.

Sources

• eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Delaware statewide and by county, 2016–2025.
• State List of Bird Species, Delaware Bird Records Committee, Delaware Ornithological Society — review and non-review status for every hummingbird on this page.
• Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge bird checklist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Ruby-throated seasonal status and nesting.
• Zenzal, T. J., and F. R. Moore. 2016. Stopover biology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds during autumn migration. The Auk 133:237–250 — fall refueling.
• 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.