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 breeding window, peaking one after another 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 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 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, thin but present in the east |
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Arrival windows by region, when to hang feeders, and the timing gap between Anna's and Washington's three breeders — printed small enough to tape inside the shed door.
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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 true season shape instead of a flattened one.
Anna's, Rufous, Calliope, and Black-chinned Hummingbird, statewide, shared scale. Anna's dominance and Rufous's 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 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 checked finding here: the three breeders peak in a 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 coast-to-dry-side spread across the Cascade divide.
One thing to know before you read the month-by-month detail: Anna's Hummingbird turns up every week of the year in every region we track — but that means something very different on each side of the Cascades. In King, Snohomish, and Clallam Counties, anywhere from about one in five to one in two birdwatchers report an Anna's in a given week, all year long. It's a true backyard regular. In Chelan, Kittitas, and Yakima Counties, it's never more than about one in six, and around Ellensburg it's far fewer. Same species, same year-round status, two very different 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 winter peak. Common at western Washington feeders; thin but present 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 serious 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. |
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: 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 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.
A rarity note for Kittitas County: Costa's Hummingbird is a Washington Bird Records Committee review species with 18 accepted records, but its documented pattern here traces almost entirely to one returning bird in Kittitas County, seen in late spring and early summer — not a recurring visitor.
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 peak — last of the three breeders, exactly as the timing chart above shows. |
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.
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. |
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.
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: Anna's Alone, and a Rarity Window
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird is the only regular species left anywhere in Washington. Rufous is down to the odd late straggler. |
| West of the Cascades | Anna's eases a little from its September high around Seattle, but more than two in five birdwatchers there are still reporting one. |
| Chelan | Anna's starts sliding toward its winter low around Wenatchee. |
What to do: A feeder left up this time of year is 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.
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: Anna's Settles In for Winter
| West of the Cascades | Anna's holds steady — about two in five birdwatchers around Seattle report one — and on the Olympic Peninsula numbers are climbing toward winter. |
| East of the Cascades | Thinner. Around Yakima, about one in seven birdwatchers still reports an Anna's; around Wenatchee it's closer to one in fifteen. |
What to do: Keep the feeder up and clean heading into winter. West of the Cascades, November's Anna's are settling in, and February's statewide peak is still ahead.
December: Anna's Builds Back Toward Its Peak
| Statewide | Anna's Hummingbird remains the only species around, numbers climbing back toward February's statewide peak. |
What to do: Winter feeders need extra attention in freezing weather — a frozen feeder helps no one. Check it daily during cold snaps if you're hosting wintering Anna's. Our winter hummingbird feeder care guide covers heated feeders and the two-feeder swap.
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 | Anna's alone statewide; the month of Washington's only Ruby-throated record |
| November | Anna's steady west of the Cascades, thinner east of them |
| 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 gap of roughly a month.
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 year-round resident.
Are there hummingbirds in Washington in the winter?
Yes — Anna's Hummingbird is a common year-round resident west of the Cascades, and a thinner but steady 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 breeders, each with its own season. Two more — Costa's and Ruby-throated Hummingbird — are 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 sharply bounded season that starts a month later and ends differently too. A single date would mislead most of the state.
How We Built This Calendar
Every date here comes from ten years of eBird checklists (2016–2025) for Washington as a whole and six counties spread across the Cascades: Clallam, King and Snohomish on the west side, and Chelan, Kittitas and Yakima on the east. We counted a species as arrived only once sightings held up week after week. For rare species we trust the Washington Bird Records Committee's accepted records over raw eBird sightings, which is why Costa's and Ruby-throated are described in the text rather than charted. The biggest finding: Anna's is here all year, but far more common west of the mountains than east.
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.
- 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.
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.
Join Insider Birding Access →Free to join. 10% off your first order.
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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.
