Aug 26, 2026
Hummingbirds in Alabama: The Complete Guide to All 13 Species
A decade-long peer-reviewed banding study out of Alabama and Florida has captured and identified 1,598 wintering hummingbirds by hand — and a second decade-long follow-up study banded 1,870 more. Together they make Alabama's Gulf Coast one of the best-documented winter hummingbird regions in the country, and they're why this page can say something most state guides can't: exactly how common each of Alabama's 13 species really is, species ID settled by physically handling the bird, not by guesswork from a distance.
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All 13 species, one page
This page covers every hummingbird confirmed in Alabama, rarities included. The printable species guide is the practical companion — every species, its status, and how many records it has on file, sorted by how likely you are to actually see it.
Download the Alabama species guideOne page · PDF · free to print and share
All 13 documented Alabama hummingbird species, grouped by tier — cross-checked against the Alabama Bird Records Committee's official checklist and Review List.
The Hummingbird You're Most Likely to See
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Resident
Alabama's only breeding hummingbird, and a genuine year-round resident on the Gulf Coast. The decade-long Bassett & Cubie banding study confirmed this directly by hand: 375 Ruby-throated individuals banded over the winter months, 23.5% of every wintering hummingbird captured in the entire study — and those wintering birds are mostly northern-origin migrants passing through, not the local breeders staying put. Statewide checklist activity peaks near 45.9% in the warm months.
Quick ID: Adult males show a brilliant iridescent ruby-red throat that can look flat black until light hits it directly, paired with an emerald-green back. Females and immatures lack the red throat, showing a plain whitish throat and a rounded, white-tipped tail instead.
A Little Throne for Your Ruby-throated
Alabama's most reliable hummingbird deserves more than a single feeder port to defend — a nearby perch gives your Ruby-throated a place to rest and watch without giving up ground.
Shop Charm Redwood Swing →Alabama's Regular Migrant and Winter Visitors
Four species show up in Alabama reliably enough, every year, that none of them require documentation with the state's records committee. Real, expected parts of the Alabama hummingbird season — not rarities.
Rufous Hummingbird Migrant/Winter
The single most frequently banded wintering hummingbird on the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast, by a wide margin — 51.6% of all 1,598 birds banded in the first decade of the study, and 49% of 1,870 in the second decade, confirming the pattern held for twenty straight years. If a hummingbird shows up at your Alabama feeder in winter, this is genuinely the most likely species.
Adult males are unmistakable — fiery coppery-orange overall with an iridescent orange-red throat — and famously aggressive, chasing off other hummingbirds regardless of size difference. Females and immatures are trickier: green-backed above, with rufous-washed flanks and a rusty patch at the base of the tail.
Quick ID: Adult males are almost entirely coppery-orange with a glowing orange-red throat, and the only largely rufous-backed hummingbird in North America; females and immatures are green-backed with rufous-washed flanks.
Black-chinned Hummingbird Migrant/Winter
Alabama is the origin state for the same Bassett & Cubie banding research that anchors this page — the study that established the entire Southeast's winter Black-chinned pattern started here. A real, expected part of the Gulf Coast winter mix.
Quick ID: Adult males show a velvety black throat with a thin band of iridescent purple visible only at the right angle — otherwise it reads as solid black. Females are essentially identical to female Ruby-throated except for longer wings that reach nearly to the tail tip.
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Migrant/Winter
The best-documented of Alabama's uncommon hummingbirds — 49 individuals banded in each decade-long study, with real site fidelity demonstrated by a Texas-banded immature male recaptured in Fairhope, Alabama. The 2009 study describes this as the only North American hummingbird species known to migrate north and east into the Gulf Coast states after breeding.
Quick ID: A striking red bill tipped in black is the giveaway on both sexes; an iridescent blue-green throat, buff-colored belly, and a rufous tail that flashes chestnut in flight round out the picture.
Calliope Hummingbird Migrant/Winter
The Alabama Ornithological Society describes this species as "rare but increasing" in late fall through early spring — and the banding data backs that up with real, multi-year site fidelity: 3 of 35 banded Calliope individuals in the first decade of the study returned to the same site in later years.
Quick ID: North America's smallest breeding hummingbird, with a hunched posture and short tail. Males have a unique streaked, ray-like magenta throat unlike any other species' solid gorget. Females are tiny even by hummingbird standards, with a peachy wash across the underparts and fine green stippling on the throat.
An Extra Feeder for Your Winter Visitors
Rufous, Black-chinned, Buff-bellied, and Calliope can all turn up at Alabama feeders once the Ruby-throateds head south — a second feeder in a different spot means a cold-season visitor doesn't have to compete for the only station in the yard.
Shop AspenPerch® Feeder →Alabama's Recurring Rarities
Four species turn up often enough, across enough separately banded or documented individuals, that "rare" doesn't mean "once." All four still require documentation with the Alabama Bird Records Committee (ABRC) every time.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird Rare / Casual Visitor
23 total individuals banded across the two decade-long studies — a genuine, if sparse, recurring pattern. Outdoor Alabama's own status word, "Occasional," directly signals recurrence rather than a one-off. Mainly the Gulf Coast region, late fall through early spring.
Quick ID: Adult males have a rose-magenta throat and produce a distinctive high metallic trill with their wings in flight, audible before the bird is visible. Females closely resemble female Rufous but lack the extensive rufous wash on the flanks.
Allen's Hummingbird Rare / Casual Visitor
19 individuals banded across the 2008–2018 study — genuinely scarce next to the hundreds of Rufous banded in the same effort, but a real, recurring pattern all the same. One banded bird's story shows how far these wanderers travel: banded in Tennessee in December 2020, it was recaptured that same winter in Mobile County, Alabama.
Quick ID: Adult males show a coppery tail, eye patch, and belly against a bronze-green back, with a deep reddish-orange gorget. Females and immatures are extremely difficult to separate from female Rufous without a bird in hand.
Broad-billed Hummingbird Rare / Casual Visitor
12 individuals banded across both decade-long studies, plus a documented breeding attempt in 2012 — genuine recurrence over 20-plus years, not an isolated event. Outdoor Alabama confirms directly: "Bred in Alabama in 2012."
Quick ID: A vivid red bill tipped in black is diagnostic on both sexes; adult males add a shimmering blue throat and rich green body. Females are golden-green above and gray below, with a white line behind the eye.
Mexican Violetear Rare / Casual Visitor
The Alabama Ornithological Society's own records confirm the most recent sighting as explicitly the state's third accepted record — October 2022, at a feeder east of Abbeville in Henry County, found by Gary Picard and banded by Fred Bassett. Being the third documented occurrence is itself the evidence of genuine recurrence, not a single fluke event.
Quick ID: Both sexes look essentially alike — an all-green hummingbird with a glittering violet patch across the ear coverts and upper chest, and a blackish band crossing the blue-green tail.
Make Your Sanctuary Worth a Detour
Broad-tailed, Allen's, Broad-billed, and Mexican Violetear are all rare enough in Alabama that a feeder alone might not hold their attention — real electrolytes and calcium beyond plain sugar water give a wandering rarity a genuine reason to stay long enough to be seen.
Shop Nectarlyte® Powder →If You're Lucky: Alabama's Historic Rarities
Four more species have been accepted onto Alabama's official checklist — real, documented occurrences, but isolated ones without the recurring pattern the species above show.
Anna's Hummingbird Historic / Accidental
Exactly 3 Anna's Hummingbirds were banded across the full decade-long Bassett & Cubie study — and critically, none of the three ever returned in a later winter. That's a real, measured contrast: Rufous returned at a 14.4% rate, Buff-bellied at 17.1%, Ruby-throated at 5.2%, even Calliope at 8.6% — every other species studied showed some real site fidelity except this one. Zero returns across three banded birds is genuine peer-reviewed evidence of an isolated pattern, not just an absence of data.
Quick ID: The only North American hummingbird with a fully colored crown as well as throat — males glow rose-pink from head to throat. Females show a central patch of rose-red spotting on an otherwise plain throat, with a stocky, broad-tailed build.
Rivoli's Hummingbird Historic / Accidental
The Alabama Bird Records Committee's own current Review List confirms exactly 2 accepted records, the most recent in 1994 — 32 years ago as of 2026, with nothing since. Absent from both major Gulf Coast banding studies, consistent with this being a shorter-distance western migrant less likely to wander as far east as the ones those studies documented.
Quick ID: One of the largest North American hummingbirds. Adult males show a black-looking body that flashes an iridescent violet crown and emerald-green throat at the right angle. Females are large, dull grayish-green birds with a pale eyebrow stripe and a white spot behind the eye.
Costa's Hummingbird Historic / Accidental
Alabama's only accepted record, in 2006, confirmed directly against the state records committee's current Review List. A single isolated occurrence, twenty years old as of 2026, nothing since.
Quick ID: Adult males have an extravagant deep violet crown and throat with elongated gorget feathers flaring out past the cheek. Females are pale gray-green above and whitish below, one of the plainest-looking hummingbirds in North America.
White-eared Hummingbird Historic / Accidental
Alabama's only accepted record, in 2015, confirmed directly against the state records committee's current Review List. Nothing recorded since.
Quick ID: A bold white stripe behind the eye against a dark face is diagnostic on both sexes. Adult males show a bright red bill and an iridescent violet-blue throat and chin.
Give Every Visitor a Reason to Stay
Anna's, Rivoli's, Costa's, and White-eared are all historic, once-in-a-lifetime Alabama records — real native nectar sources planted now are what turn any future rarity's brief stop into a longer stay, common breeder and accidental visitor alike.
Shop Wildflower Seed →Alabama Hummingbirds at a Glance
Ruby-throated's dominance here isn't a close call — statewide eBird frequency peaks near 45.9%, and every other confirmed species stays well under 2% at true statewide scale, even Rufous, the most-banded winter species in the region. With a gap this wide, a bar chart wouldn't show anything the table below doesn't already say plainly, so this section skips straight to the table.
| Species | Alabama Records | Best Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby-throated | Only breeder; year-round on the Gulf Coast | Spring through fall statewide; year-round near the coast |
| Rufous | Most common wintering species, ~50% of banded birds over 2 decades | Fall through winter, Gulf Coast feeders |
| Black-chinned | Regular Gulf Coast winter visitor | Fall through winter, Gulf Coast feeders |
| Buff-bellied | 49 banded per decade, best-documented rare visitor | Fall through spring, Gulf Coast feeders |
| Calliope | "Rare but increasing," documented multi-year site fidelity | Late fall through early spring |
| Broad-tailed | 23 individuals banded across 2 decade-long studies | Not expected — but genuinely recurring |
| Allen's | 19 individuals banded, 2008–2018 | Not expected — but genuinely recurring |
| Broad-billed | 12 banded plus a 2012 breeding attempt | Not expected — but genuinely recurring |
| Mexican Violetear | 3 accepted records, most recent 2022 | Not expected — but genuinely recurring |
| Anna's | 3 banded, zero returns — genuine one-off pattern | Not expected — genuine one-off |
| Rivoli's | 2 accepted records, most recent 1994 | Not expected — genuine one-off |
| Costa's | 1 accepted record (2006), Alabama's only | Not expected — genuine one-off |
| White-eared | 1 accepted record (2015), Alabama's only | Not expected — genuine one-off |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many species of hummingbirds are in Alabama?
Thirteen species have been documented in Alabama. Ruby-throated is the only breeder and a genuine year-round Gulf Coast resident; Black-chinned, Buff-bellied, Calliope, and Rufous are all regular migrant and winter visitors; Allen's, Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, and Mexican Violetear are genuinely recurring rarities; and Anna's, Costa's, Rivoli's, and White-eared are historic one-offs.
What is the most common wintering hummingbird in Alabama?
Rufous Hummingbird, by a wide margin. It made up 51.6% of all 1,598 hummingbirds banded in the first decade of the Bassett & Cubie Gulf Coast study, and 49% of 1,870 birds in the follow-up decade — roughly half of every wintering hummingbird handled in twenty years of research.
Are there hummingbirds in Alabama in winter?
Yes — a genuine, well-documented winter hummingbird community exists along the Gulf Coast, anchored by two decade-long peer-reviewed banding studies. Rufous, Buff-bellied, Black-chinned, and Calliope are all regular winter visitors, and a real wintering Ruby-throated population persists as well.
What is the rarest hummingbird ever recorded in Alabama?
Costa's and White-eared Hummingbirds each have just one accepted Alabama record — 2006 and 2015 respectively — per the Alabama Bird Records Committee's official Review List, with nothing recorded before or since either one.
For feeder setup, nectar ratios, and native plants that support these species, head back to our how-to-attract-hummingbirds-in-Alabama guide. For region-by-region arrival and departure windows, see the Alabama hummingbird calendar.
Why We Created This
Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations. One of the questions our customers ask most often is "What hummingbirds are actually in my state?" — and for Alabama, we have an unusually strong answer available: two decade-long peer-reviewed banding studies that identified wintering hummingbirds by physically handling each bird, not by distant observation. We built this page to give a direct, sourced answer, distinguishing genuinely recurring rarities from true one-off records using that real evidence.
How We Created This
We pulled eBird bar chart data for Alabama statewide to establish which species show a real, measurable presence at genuine statewide scale — meaning large, representative sample sizes, not a handful of local checklists. Only Ruby-throated cleared a meaningful bar; every other species measured under 2% at true statewide scale, even Rufous, the single most common winter species in the banding data. We cross-checked every rare and historic species directly against the Alabama Bird Records Committee's official checklist and current Review List, and against two peer-reviewed studies — Bassett & Cubie (2009) and Bassett & Dietrich (2021) — that banded and physically identified over 3,400 wintering hummingbirds combined across two decades. That's how we distinguished genuinely recurring rarities (multiple banded individuals or accepted records across years) from true one-offs (a single banded bird, or zero return-year site fidelity, as with Anna's) rather than relying on eBird frequency alone.
Sources
- Alabama Ornithological Society, Official Checklist of Alabama Birds. Source for all 13 species on this page.
- Alabama Bird Records Committee, Review List (Revised April 2026). Source for accepted-record counts and dates for Alabama's historic and recurring rarities.
- Bassett, F. & Cubie, D. (2009), "Wintering hummingbirds in Alabama and Florida," Journal of Field Ornithology 80(2):154-162. Source for the first decade-long Gulf Coast banding study.
- Bassett, F. & Dietrich, S. (2021), "A second decade of overwintering hummingbirds in Florida and Alabama," Wilson Journal of Ornithology 133(1):132-136. Source for the second decade-long banding study.
- Outdoor Alabama (AL DCNR), species accounts. Source for state-agency status descriptions.
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — Alabama statewide.
Know before they arrive
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Shop Alabama'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.
