Aug 22, 2026
New York Hummingbird Season: A Month-by-Month Calendar
New York is big enough that a single date is never quite right — and the real pattern doesn't split cleanly along a simple upstate/downstate line. Long Island and New York City see their first hummingbirds nearly two weeks before Buffalo and Syracuse do, but Long Island doesn't hold onto them any longer for it — it empties out almost as early as Upstate does. It's Manhattan and the Hudson Valley that genuinely run later on both ends.
The short answer: Ruby-throated Hummingbird is New York's only confirmed breeding species, arriving late April in the New York City area and Long Island, and by early May farther upstate. Most of the state — Upstate, Long Island, and Brooklyn — empties out by early October; Manhattan and the rest of the Hudson Valley run about two weeks longer, into mid-to-late October. Real winter rarities — genuine, committee-accepted, not folklore — show up most years from November through March, so keeping a feeder up after Ruby-throated leaves is a real, not token, chance at something rarer.
New York Hummingbird Timing at a Glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Arrive | Late April (NYC area, Long Island, Hudson Valley) to early May (Buffalo, Syracuse, and Westchester) |
| Feeders up | 1–2 weeks before your region's arrival date — late April statewide is a safe target |
| Nesting begins | Shortly after arrival, generally by mid-May statewide |
| Busiest month | Late August (Buffalo, Syracuse) · September (NYC area, Long Island, Hudson Valley) |
| Leave | Early October (Buffalo, Syracuse, Long Island, Brooklyn) to mid-to-late October (Hudson Valley, Manhattan) |
| Winter | Ruby-throated gone, but real western rarities show up most years Nov–Mar — worth keeping a feeder up |
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The whole year on one page
Arrival windows by region, when to hang feeders, and the November window when New York's rare visitors turn up — printed small enough to tape inside the shed door.
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New York's Hummingbird Season at a Glance
Ruby-throated Hummingbird so overwhelmingly dominates New York's numbers that showing every species on one shared-scale chart would flatten the rarer ones into invisible flat lines. So this is three charts, not one — each showing a real season shape instead of a flattened one.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, statewide, on its own scale — New York's only confirmed breeder.
That chart tells the main story, but New York also has two real tiers of rare visitors — species tiered "Migrant/Winter Visitor" and "Rare" respectively, verified against the workbook's own species status records, not just a percentage cutoff. Each is shown on its own chart, scaled to when it actually occurs, since both are flat for roughly two-thirds of the year.
Rufous Hummingbird, statewide — New York's one genuine, recurring winter visitor, zoomed to September–April.
Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Calliope, and Allen's Hummingbird, statewide — genuine, committee-accepted rarities, zoomed to September–April. A seventh species, Anna's Hummingbird, has 3 verified New York records but is too sparse to show a reliable seasonal shape on a chart — a real record, just not a chartable one.
Regions used on this page: Upstate (Erie County/Buffalo, Onondaga County/Syracuse), the NYC Metro & Hudson Valley (New York County/Manhattan, Kings County/Brooklyn, Westchester, Putnam), and Long Island (Suffolk County). One real wrinkle worth knowing: Westchester arrives on Upstate's slower spring schedule rather than the rest of the Hudson Valley's earlier one, even though it departs on the Hudson Valley's later fall schedule — an early-May arrival paired with a mid-October departure.
One thing to know before you read the month-by-month detail: a quiet feeder in October doesn't mean the season is over. Ruby-throated is genuinely gone by then in most of the state, but this is exactly when New York's real rarities — Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Calliope, and Allen's Hummingbird — show up most years, peaking in November. Keep the feeder up.
January, February & March: The Quiet Season
| Statewide | Ruby-throated absent everywhere — no genuine breeding-season activity to report in any region this early. |
| Where a feeder was left up | Rufous Hummingbird, where one settled in for the winter, can persist into January and February — this is New York's one genuinely recurring winter visitor. New York's lone Allen's Hummingbird record, a Riverhead bird found the previous October, actually over-wintered all the way into early April — a rare exception worth knowing about, not a sign that Allen's shows up like this most years. |
What to do: If you kept a feeder up from the fall for a chance at a rarity, this is exactly the stretch it might still pay off. Otherwise, there's nothing to put out yet.
April: Arrival Begins
| Long Island, NYC & Lower Hudson Valley | First Ruby-throated Hummingbirds of spring arrive by late April. |
| Upstate (Buffalo, Syracuse) & Westchester | Still quiet — arrival is still about a week away. |
What to do: Have your feeder up by late April if you're anywhere downstate or on Long Island — including most of the Hudson Valley. Westchester is the one Hudson Valley county that runs on Upstate's slower schedule; there's no rush there yet.
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 →May: Arrival Completes, Nesting Begins
| Upstate (Buffalo, Syracuse) & Westchester | First arrivals, about a week behind the rest of the state. |
| Statewide | Nesting begins shortly after arrival — expect quieter feeder activity as females spend more time incubating, not less activity overall. |
What to do: Keep feeders clean and full even if visits seem to drop off — that's nesting behavior, not birds leaving.
June – July: Nesting Season
| Statewide | Stable breeding season. Feeder activity can look quiet while females are on the nest. |
| Downstate & Long Island | Second broods possible into July, in the longer downstate season. |
What to do: Skip the insecticide near feeders — nesting females rely on small insects for protein alongside nectar.
August: Peak Season Upstate
| Upstate (Buffalo, Syracuse) | Late August is the single busiest stretch of the year here. |
| Downstate & Long Island | Still building toward September's own peak. |
What to do: Keep everything full — Upstate feeders are at their busiest of the whole year right now.
Keep pests off without pesticides — hummingbirds rely on small insects for protein, so spraying near a feeder can cost them a food source, not just protect one.
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.
September: Peak Season Downstate & Long Island
| NYC Metro / Hudson Valley & Long Island | Own busiest month, roughly two to three weeks behind Buffalo and Syracuse's late-August peak. |
| Upstate | Already well past peak and thinning out fast — most of the season's activity is behind it by month's end. |
What to do: Southbound migration is already underway even as local numbers peak — birds passing through add to birds still nesting, so don't read a busy feeder as "more staying," necessarily.
This is the month to be generous, not economical.
Hummingbirds preparing for migration enter hyperphagia, feeding intensively enough to nearly double their body weight before a long flight — birds actively fueling up now need sustained, high-volume refills, not just a topped-off feeder. The large 2lb Nectarlyte® powder or the Nectarade® liquid concentrate keeps you from running dry through the whole fueling window.
October: Upstate, Long Island & Brooklyn Go Quiet First
| Upstate, Long Island & Brooklyn | Last regular activity by early October. Long Island and Brooklyn empty out this early despite arriving among the earliest in spring — an early start here doesn't buy a longer season. |
| Manhattan & the Hudson Valley | Holds on about two weeks longer, into mid-to-late October, before emptying out too. |
What to do: Don't assume "downstate leaves last" as a single rule — Long Island and Brooklyn are actually among the first parts of the state to empty out each fall, while Manhattan and the rest of the Hudson Valley genuinely run later. If you keep feeders up past your local last-sighting date, that's genuinely useful — see November, below.
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: Fall Rarity Season
| Statewide | Black-chinned, Broad-billed, and Calliope Hummingbird all show their statewide peak this month. Rufous Hummingbird — New York's one genuinely territorial regular visitor — is also well into its real fall window by now. Allen's Hummingbird, New York's newest addition to the state list, has also been documented arriving this month. |
What to do: None of these four is common, but all are real, committee-accepted New York records worth watching for if your feeder is still up after the local Ruby-throateds have left. Two are recent enough to be genuinely notable: New York's first-ever Black-chinned Hummingbird was found on Randall's Island in Manhattan in November 2023, and its first-ever Allen's Hummingbird — found in Riverhead, Suffolk County, that same October — went on to over-winter into early April the following year, a genuine rarity within a rarity.
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 — Rufous Hummingbird in particular is famously territorial. A second feeder and a second swing, spaced out of sight of each other, gives another bird — the incoming migrant or a displaced resident — its own station to guard instead of fighting over one.
Shop a second swing →December: Winter Watch
| Statewide | Rufous Hummingbird is New York's one genuine, recurring winter visitor, and December is squarely inside its real window. Allen's Hummingbird has occurred this late too — but on the strength of a single over-wintering record, not a repeating pattern. |
What to do: If you're keeping a winter feeder, a bird that arrived in the fall can plausibly stay through the whole month — check it regularly rather than assuming the season is over. Our winter hummingbird feeder care guide covers heated feeders and the two-feeder swap.
The Year at a Glance
| Month | What's Happening |
|---|---|
| January – March | Quiet statewide; occasional lingering Rufous from the fall |
| April | Arrival begins — NYC Metro, Hudson Valley (except Westchester), Long Island |
| May | Arrival completes upstate and in Westchester; nesting begins statewide |
| June – July | Nesting season; possible second broods downstate |
| August | Busiest month — Buffalo & Syracuse |
| September | Busiest month — NYC Metro, Hudson Valley & Long Island |
| October | Upstate, Long Island & Brooklyn empty out first; Manhattan & Hudson Valley run about two weeks longer; wildflower planting window |
| November | Fall rarity peak — Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Calliope, Allen's |
| December | Rufous winter window continues |
Frequently Asked Questions
When do hummingbirds arrive in New York?
Late April in the NYC Metro area, Long Island, and most of the Hudson Valley; early May in Buffalo, Syracuse, and Westchester — the one Hudson Valley county that runs on Upstate's later schedule.
When do hummingbirds leave New York?
Most of the state — Upstate, Long Island, and Brooklyn — is quiet by early October. Manhattan and the rest of the Hudson Valley run about two weeks longer, into mid-to-late October. Ruby-throated is New York's only breeder, so once it leaves, any hummingbird you see afterward is a genuine rarity, not a straggler of the same wave.
When do hummingbirds leave Rochester and the Finger Lakes?
This page's own county-level data doesn't include a Finger Lakes county directly, but Rochester sits climatically close to Syracuse — expect early October, in line with the rest of Upstate New York.
Are there hummingbirds on Long Island in the winter?
Ruby-throated, no — it's gone by early October, actually one of the earliest parts of the state to empty out. But Long Island shares the same real chance at Rufous and the state's other winter/fall rarities as anywhere else in New York — including New York's first-ever Allen's Hummingbird, found in Riverhead in October 2023. Keeping a feeder up through November and December is a genuine, not token, chance at something rarer.
What hummingbirds are in the Hudson Valley?
Ruby-throated Hummingbird from late April (Putnam and points south) or early May (Westchester) through mid-to-late October — genuinely one of the longer seasons in the state on both ends. Rufous, Allen's, Black-chinned, Broad-billed, and Calliope have all been documented in New York as genuine, committee-accepted fall and winter 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 a place the size of New York: Long Island and NYC get their first arrivals nearly two weeks before Buffalo and Syracuse do, and — as it turns out — don't all leave together either.
How We Built This Calendar
Every date on this page comes from eBird bar chart data (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), 2016–2025, for New York statewide and seven counties: Erie (Buffalo) and Onondaga (Syracuse) upstate; New York County (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Westchester, and Putnam downstate; and Suffolk on Long Island. We only chart species with a repeating seasonal pattern, so Anna's Hummingbird, with just 3 verified sightings, is named rather than charted. The genuine finding: an early arrival doesn't buy a longer season. Long Island and Brooklyn arrive among the earliest but empty out among the first, Manhattan and the Hudson Valley run about two weeks longer, and Westchester arrives on Upstate's schedule but leaves on the Hudson Valley's. That comparison is our own analysis of the raw eBird data.
Sources
- eBird bar chart data, Cornell Lab of Ornithology — New York statewide and county-level (Erie, Onondaga, Westchester, Putnam, New York, Kings, Suffolk), 2016–2025. Source for all month-by-month seasonal figures and the regional arrival/departure pattern.
- New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC), a committee of the New York State Ornithological Association. Source for New York's official rare-bird review process, species status context, and the Black-chinned and Allen's Hummingbird first-state-record details.
- 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.
Event dates and formats change from year to year. Check organizer websites before making plans.
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.
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Shop New York'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.
