Although it is not yet December 21st, in terms of the hummingbird calendar in North Carolina the winter season is upon us. 

We consider reports of individuals present after November 1st as being winter hummers. And, not surprisingly, since the first week of the month, reports have been coming in from all over the state.  Hummingbirds just appearing at feeders as well as those that have been on-site awhile are now of interest.  There are always some hosts that do not realize that November hummingbirds, especially in central and western North Carolina, are not likely Ruby-throateds.

Those with hummingbirds visiting along our coastline may well have Rubys any month of the year.  By now, these are likely to be wintering individuals that have arrived from further north and replaced the summertime breeders.   This situation is possible given the Gulf Stream’s influence on the temperatures close to the ocean.  Away from the smell of saltwater, these less hardy hummers are far less likely from late fall through mid-spring.

Yes- here in our state we get western species of hummers and mainly in the cooler months.  They are not common, but they also are not as rare as we once thought. Eleven different species of hummingbird have been documented in North Carolina to date.  These are species typically found in the western US but also a couple have been of tropical origin. The species most expected is Rufous followed by Black-chinned Hummingbird.  Black-chinneds are the ones you would likely encounter west of the Mississippi River.  Rufous are widespread in the far west and up into southwestern Canada and southeastern Alaska.  For these birds, our winters are not much different than their summers. So, spending “the off-season” here is not really a stretch—especially if they have easy access to winter blooming annuals as well as sugar water.

The challenge with wintering hummers tends to be their identity.  Unfortunately, most are not adult males in distinctive plumage. Individuals tend to look similar in coloring, size and shape to Ruby-throateds. Photos, even just shot by a phone, can help by allowing us to rule out certain species.  But lucky shots in terms of position and angle of the light may reveal the bird’s identity.  However, much of the time it takes trapping and in-hand scrutiny in concert with banding to know which species is present.  Thankfully, now in NC we have three licensed hummingbird banders as well as a colleague in Tennessee who can come this way to help with birds in the mountains as well.

Most years we have a big season highlight and it can come at any point from early in the fall or in the late winter or even early spring. It could be a first or second state record, a long-distance recapture or beloved returnee. Rufous hummingbirds in particular may spend the winter in the same place for all of the five to seven years of their lives. But the unexpected really makes things exciting.  During only my second season, in November of 2000, I banded the state’s first (and likely only) Green-breasted Mango which was totally unexpected–and I did so while it was snowing! This was a bird that should have been in Central America or Caribbean.  I had to wait until the late winter of 2022 to be surprised again. In March, I trapped North Carolina’s first hybrid hummingbird: an Allen’s x Anna’s Hummingbird.  Very few have ever been documented– on the West Coast where these species breed. So, the odds of an individual turning up this far east was quite improbable.  Thankfully, the hummingbird was an immature male that had acquired most of his adult plumage by banding day. Photos taken earlier in the season did have me wondering a bit as contradictory aspects of his plumage were evident.  These two hummers are near the top of the list of the rarest birds documented in our state

We will have to be patient to find out what interesting hummingbirds might show up during the 2024-2025 winter season.  Winter feeders are actually not that tricky to maintain.  They only need to be cleaned about once a week during cooler weather.  Furthermore, only temperatures below 27o will cause the (regular 4:1 water to sugar) solution to freeze.  And nowadays there are commercially made feeder heaters such as the “Hummer Hearth” that can be employed on the coldest mornings. 

But many hosts still simply rotate a feeder from inside when the one outdoors begins to get slushy. Regardless of the winter-feeding strategy, you can bet that those of us maintaining winter feeders are keeping a sharp eye out, hoping that a tiny visitor will appear. Hosting one of these hardy marvels is a real privilege as I, being a three-time winter host, can attest!

The featured image of this blog is of a 7 year-old banded female Rufous Hummingbird in north Raleigh- winter 2008 (her final season wintering in the same yard).

Author – Susan Campbell, Licensed hummingbird bander and lead hummingbird researcher in North Carolina. Learn more about Susan’s work at https://www.capefearbirdobservatory.org.