About FeederDates

FeederDates answers one question well: when should the hummingbird feeder go up, and when should it come down, where you live?

The answer is different in Baton Rouge than in Bangor — by nearly three months — but it's remarkably consistent from year to year, because hummingbird migration runs on day length and latitude. That makes it possible to compile a reliable state-by-state timetable.

Ranges, not promises

The dates are deliberately ranges, not precise days. A warm March can pull arrivals a week early; a cold snap can push them late. That's why every recommended put-out date runs about two weeks ahead of typical first arrivals — the vanguard males routinely beat the "average," and they arrive hungriest. Putting a feeder out early never hurts; at worst it hangs quietly for a few extra days.

Take-down dates and the migration myth

Take-down recommendations run about two weeks after the last birds typically pass through. Leaving a feeder up does not delay migration — that's the most persistent myth in backyard birding. Migration is triggered by photoperiod, and a full feeder simply fuels the late stragglers that need it most. In several southern and western states the right answer is to never take the feeder down at all.

The recipe

One recipe, everywhere, every species: 4 parts water to 1 part plain white sugar. The nectar calculator scales it to your feeder.