No hummingbird breeds farther north than the one that nests in Alaska every summer — Rufous Hummingbird holds that record worldwide, and it's the only species that nests here. For decades that was almost the entire Alaska hummingbird story. It isn't anymore: Anna's Hummingbird has gone from a handful of scattered winter sightings in the 1970s to a real, recurring cold-season presence in Southeast Alaska, with growing Christmas Bird Count numbers year over year. Round out the list with three genuine rarities, each with its own real, documented record.

This guide sorts out which hummingbird you're actually looking at, and what Alaska's own primary sources — not eBird alone — actually say about each one. For feeder setup and timing, see our how-to-attract guide. For exact arrival and departure windows, see the Alaska hummingbird calendar.

All five documented Alaska hummingbird species, grouped by tier — cross-checked directly against the Checklist of Alaska Birds (University of Alaska Museum / Alaska Bird Records Committee), 32nd edition, 2026.

The Hummingbird You'll Actually See

Rufous Hummingbird

Alaska's only breeding hummingbird — and the record-holder for the northernmost breeding range of any hummingbird species on Earth. Cornell Lab is direct about it: Rufous "breeds as far north as southeastern Alaska." The Alaska Department of Fish and Game confirms this is genuine nesting, not just vagrancy — birds arrive in April and nest from Southeast into Southcentral Alaska, making Rufous "the only hummingbird commonly found" in those regions. It winters in Mexico and clears out completely by fall.

Adult males are unmistakable: fiery, coppery-orange overall with an iridescent orange-red throat, and famously aggressive at feeders regardless of what else shows up. Females and immatures are green-backed above with cinnamon-washed flanks and a rufous patch at the base of the tail.

Quick ID: Adult male is a vivid, unmistakable orange-red overall. Female and immature show cinnamon-washed flanks and a rufous tail patch — the flank color is the key tell against a female Anna's, which shows grayish-green flanks instead.

Alaska's Winter Newcomer

Anna's Hummingbird

A genuine, still-developing Alaska story. The state's first Anna's sighting was in 1971, with the first structured winter-count detection following in 1974 — for decades after that, occurrences stayed scattered enough that Alaska Fish and Game classified the species simply "casual." That's changed. Real, recurring presence since roughly 2005 shows up in growing Christmas Bird Count totals — a new state-high count of 31 birds at Ketchikan has since surpassed an earlier record of 21 — plus banded individuals returning to the same Southeast Alaska feeders across multiple winters. The Checklist of Alaska Birds (32nd ed., 2026) no longer carries a vagrancy symbol next to Anna's at all, in a document whose entire purpose is flagging exactly that kind of status. There's no confirmed Alaska breeding record for this species — this is a wintering-presence story, not a nesting one.

Adult males show an iridescent rose-red crown and throat together — the only North American hummingbird with color on the crown itself, not just the throat. Females and immatures are green above with a paler throat, sometimes showing a few red throat flecks.

Quick ID: Adult male's rose-red crown-plus-throat combination is unique among Alaska's hummingbirds. Female and immature are stockier and grayer-flanked than a female Rufous, which shows cinnamon-washed sides instead.

If You're Lucky: Alaska's Rarities

Three more species have real, documented Alaska records — each one genuinely rare, and each with its own honest record history rather than a vague "sometimes seen here."

Costa's Hummingbird

Nearly a dozen accepted Alaska records — Fish and Game's own phrase groups it with Anna's as "casual" in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska, and the Checklist of Alaska Birds marks it the same way. The pattern goes back to an adult male at an Anchorage feeder in 1989, with further records at Anchorage, Cordova, and a pair of birds at Juneau and Valdez in fall 2018. Real and recurring, but not annual — genuinely rarer than Anna's.

Quick ID: Adult male's flared, mustache-like purple crown and gorget are unmistakable. Female and immature are smaller and paler-bellied than a female Anna's, with a droopy-looking bill and a pale eyebrow wrapping a dark cheek.

Calliope Hummingbird

Alaska's first substantiated Calliope record didn't come until September 2016, at Auke Bay near Juneau — a hatching-year male, photographed. That single documented bird followed at least six unsubstantiated sight reports stretching back to the late 1960s, all from Southeast Alaska. The University of Alaska Museum's own checklist addendum is direct about why it's marked Casual: "because of its long, enigmatic, unsubstantiated past in se Alaska."

Quick ID: North America's smallest hummingbird — a compact, hunched shape even smaller than Costa's. Adult male's magenta throat streaks radiate outward individually rather than forming a solid gorget, a pattern no other Alaska species shows.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The Lower 48's most familiar backyard hummingbird is Alaska's genuine rarity. At least five scattered records span decades — Nome, St. Michael, Palmer, Wiseman, Elfin Cove, and a bird near Homer in summer 2018 described at the time as "probably Alaska's fifth." The Checklist of Alaska Birds marks it Casual — recurring at irregular intervals, not a one-time accident, but nothing close to expected.

Quick ID: Adult male's brilliant ruby-red throat can look flat black without direct light, over a green back and forked tail. Female and immature have a plain whitish throat and a rounded, white-tipped tail — the general shape resembles a female Anna's, but Ruby-throated is stockier-billed and the two species' ranges essentially don't overlap outside vagrancy.

Alaska Hummingbirds at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

How many species of hummingbirds are in Alaska?

Five, all documented by Alaska's own bird records authority. Rufous is the only regular breeder. Anna's is a growing recurring winter presence. Costa's, Calliope, and Ruby-throated are each genuine rarities with real, if sparse, record histories.

Is it true a hummingbird breeds in Alaska?

Yes — Rufous Hummingbird. It holds the record for the northernmost breeding range of any hummingbird in the world, nesting from Southeast into Southcentral Alaska every summer before wintering in Mexico.

Are hummingbirds actually staying in Alaska through winter now?

Anna's Hummingbird is the real story here. Alaska's first sighting was in 1971, and for decades it stayed rare enough that state wildlife officials called it simply "casual." Since about 2005, recurring winter records — including growing Christmas Bird Count totals and banded birds returning to the same Southeast Alaska feeders year after year — point to a genuine, established winter presence, even though no Alaska breeding record exists yet.

What's the rarest hummingbird ever recorded in Alaska?

By record count, Calliope Hummingbird — just one substantiated record, a photographed bird near Juneau in September 2016, after decades of unconfirmed sight reports. Ruby-throated (5+ scattered records) and Costa's (~12 records) are also genuine rarities, just with a longer documented history.

For feeder setup, nectar ratios, and timing that matches Alaska's short season, head back to our how-to-attract-hummingbirds-in-Alaska guide. For exact arrival and departure windows, see the Alaska hummingbird calendar.

Sources

• Checklist of Alaska Birds, 32nd edition (2026), University of Alaska Museum / Alaska Bird Records Committee. Source for official species status (breeding, casual, accidental) for every hummingbird on Alaska's state list.
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska's Backyard Birds. Source for Rufous breeding confirmation and the Anna's/Costa's "casual" designation.
• All About Birds, Rufous Hummingbird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Source for Rufous's northernmost-breeding-range claim and identification detail.

Why We Created This Guide

Pop's Birding has been helping hummingbird lovers for three generations. Alaska gets left out of most hummingbird content entirely, or gets a single throwaway line about Rufous — which misses a genuinely interesting, still-developing story: Anna's Hummingbird's real shift from a handful of scattered 1970s sightings to an established recurring winter presence. We built this guide to give Alaska's birders a direct, sourced answer using the state's own primary records — not a generic "hummingbirds of the Pacific Northwest" list stretched to cover a place with its own real patterns.

How We Created This Guide

Source and scope. The Checklist of Alaska Birds (32nd edition, 2026), published by the University of Alaska Museum and the Alaska Bird Records Committee, cross-checked against the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's own species accounts and eBird statewide frequency data, 2016–2025.

On Anna's Hummingbird's status specifically. The 32nd-edition checklist no longer marks Anna's with the vagrancy symbol it carried in earlier editions. A document built entirely around flagging vagrancy status treats an unflagged entry as a real signal — but it's an inference from the absence of a symbol, not a committee statement in so many words, and we're not overstating it as more than that. What tips this from "maybe" to a confident call is everything else on file alongside it: a peer-reviewed finding (Battey 2019, American Naturalist) that the species has been "regularly reported" in the region since 2005, banded individuals returning to the same feeders across multiple winters, and Christmas Bird Count totals that have grown rather than stayed flat.

Sources

• Battey, C.J. (2019), "Ecological Release of the Anna's Hummingbird during a Northern Range Expansion," American Naturalist 194(3):306-315.