Common and Rare Hummingbirds in New York

Hummingbirds fascinate us. Here in New York, they pass through our yards in a blur during the warm months of Summer, making us wonder “was that a bee or a bird?” 

These amazing tiny birds are the only members of the avian world that can actually fly backward. Their ability to hover rivals the most well-engineered helicopter. Their long tongues enable them to sip nectar from flowers that other birds can’t reach.

I have hummingbird feeders as part of my setup and I could stare at these beautiful little avian gems as they hover around the nectar for as long as possible.

And leave they will. Hummingbirds travel south in the cooler months and return to New York in late Spring / early Summer. These mini migrants can log well over 4,000 miles in their journeys, coming up from Central America and Mexico and either migrating via Texas or crossing the Gulf of Mexico into the southern US and moving north to New York and New England.

While there are a number of hummingbird species found throughout the United States, only one species, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, is a common visitor to New York. The second most common hummingbird seen in New York, the Rufous Hummingbird, is found mainly in Fall Migration and is usually a single bird found in a specific area.

For other backyard birds in New York, check out our article Backyard Birds, Owls, Woodpeckers, Blackbirds, and Hawks.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Scientific Name: Archilochus Colubris                 Size: 2.8 to 3.5 inches          

Description

The most common species of hummingbird in New York state, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only species of hummingbird that breed in eastern North America.

Ruby-throats have short tails that are black-edged in white. Adult males are emerald green down the back and sides with a bright ruby throat blaze (called a gorget) a white collar and a black mask in the breeding season. Females lack the ruby-red throat patch and are iridescent emerald green and white.

As in many bird species, juveniles and immatures are similar to females.

In certain lighting, the ruby-red throat patch on the male can appear crimson red or even black.

Hummingbirds are nectar feeders, but they will also take small insects, often plucked from spider webs, or on the wing. Like all hummingbirds, Ruby-throats can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, and love red and orange flowers.

Nests are thimble-sized, made out of dandelion down, thistle, or spider silks, lichens, and mosses. One to three minuscule eggs sit in a nest about 2 inches wide.

Bird Notes

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds beat their wings about 53 times a second. This is what makes that humming sound when they fly by.

Since their legs and feet are so teeny, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t do well on the ground. To get a quick rest, they prefer to perch on branches.

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Wingbeat

Rufous Hummingbird

Scientific Name: Selasphorus rufus             Size: 3 inches                

Description

Don’t pick a fight with a Rufous Hummingbird. They may be small, but they are fierce, aggressive birds. Rufous Hummingbirds will take on hummingbirds twice their size to get at a good nectar source, and have chased away chipmunks from their nests.

Rufus Hummingbirds are bright, brilliantly-colored little birds with fairly straight bills.  When seen perched, the tails of Rufous Hummingbirds are pointed, with their wings not reaching the tail.

Male Rufous Hummingbirds are brightly colored – rust-orange backs, tails, and bellies, with copper-orange gorgets. Females and immatures have a greenish back, a rufous wash to their sides and bellies, a rusty patch on their tails, and sometimes show a hit of orange on the throat.

Like Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, the Rufous Hummingbirds build their nests from spider silk and soft plant materials and camouflages them with moss, lichens, and bark. Two to three petite eggs sit inside the 2-inch cup.

While they are predominantly Western, the Rocky Mountains and West Coast birds, there have been quite a few sightings of Rufous Hummingbirds in the Eastern US. This hummingbird species seems to be expanding its migration patterns and traveling further east and north. This is the second-most-frequent species of hummingbirds reported in New York, and numbers will probably rise in coming years.

Bird Notes

I was fortunate to catch a very late Rufous Hummingbird on a Christmas Bird Count. These December surveys are done every year by the National Audubon Society and its many chapters. The count areas are 10-mile circles that have been observed and reported on since 1900.

While participating in the 2013 Orient NY Count, the Southold South sector, I got to see a female Rufous Hummingbird that had found the feeders in a homeowner’s yard and had been there since October.

This couple went to extraordinary lengths to keep this bird alive – they made nectar in batches and warmed up each batch before changing it out, sometimes every two hours, throughout the day and night. We were able to add this bird to our count list (after filling out one NYS Ornithological Association [NYSOA] Rare Bird Sighting form).

Sadly, despite all their efforts, the bird succumbed to the Polar Vortex that affected the US in December 2013.

In 2016 I got to see two birds that showed up in another backyard in Aquebogue. The homeowner had contacted our Audubon chapter about the two Rufus Hummingbirds at her feeders.

She was very gracious about bringing birders to her yard to see these rarities, setting up chairs and benches where we could observe the birds flitting from one feeder to another.

Seeing these beautiful little gems in California is one thing; seeing them on Long Island is quite another.

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Historical Hummingbird Sightings in New York – 3 Rare Visitors

Sightings of the hummingbirds listed in this section are of vagrants, not migrants, to New York. These are birds that find themselves here after large storms or weather incidents, or other “acts of God” that happen here or in another region.

They are a rare occurrence, often a single bird but sometimes a small group. The majority of these lost souls are first-year hatchlings or juvenile birds. Long Island and upstate New York are the areas where they are most often reported.

These hummingbird vagrants show up at nectar feeders that have been kept out later in the season than usual (September-October or even longer). The homeowners who maintain these feeders go to extraordinary lengths to keep these little southern birds alive should they be found in New York when cold and winter sets in.

Calliope Hummingbird 

Scientific name: Selasphorus calliope     Size: around 3 inches

The smallest hummingbird in North America. Their travels take them from Mexico and into Canada (close to 5,000 miles) but not to the East Coast.

Like the majority of hummingbirds, Calliope Hummingbirds are magnificent, gorgeous gems. This diminutive hummingbird sports a short, rounded tail, short wings, and iridescent green back.

Males have a green belly, white chest, and a striking magenta throat blaze; females have no throat blaze and their bellies are peachy whereas the males are green.

Considered an accidental visitor to New York State, one Calliope Hummingbird was reported in Water Mill, on Eastern Long Island in 2016. It stayed for 24 days. This was only the fourth record of Calliope Hummingbird in New York, all of which occurred in November and December. Late season nectar sources enabled this bird to remain and fuel up before disappearing.

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Anna’s Hummingbird     

Scientific name: Calypte anna                Size: about 4 inches

Anna’s Hummingbirds are strictly West Coast, with a range from Mexico’s Baja California to the Pacific Northwest up to British Columbia in Canada. They are the most common hummingbird along the Pacific Coast.

An interesting fact is that Anna’s Hummingbirds do not migrate.                          

Size-wise, these birds are about as big as a ping-pong ball and their weight is about the same as a US nickel, making them stocky-bodied for a hummingbird.

Anna’s Hummingbirds are breathtakingly beautiful birds, showing shining emerald green feathers and rose-pink throats that sparkle in bright light.

The rose-pink gorget and similarly-colored crown define an adult male Anna’s Hummingbird. Both females and immatures are metallic green on top and will show some reddish-pink feathers on the throat, but nothing near what the male sports.

New York’s most recent and third sighting ever of an Anna’s Hummingbird was in Orleans County, in Western New York. This was a case of the homeowner leaving their feeders up into October.

The bird was first identified as a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which is what one would expect at that time of year, along with vagrant Rufous Hummingbirds. An eBird reviewer saw the photo, thought differently, and after more research, determined it to be a female Anna’s Hummingbird.

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Broad-billed Hummingbird

Scientific name: Selasphorus platycercus          Size: 3.3 to 4 inches

An exceptional rarity in New York State, Broad-billed Hummingbirds are also a Western bird, found in Central Mexico and Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

In the US they are found during migration in Arizona and New Mexico. So how did two of them get to Central New York?

Broad-billed Hummingbirds are medium-sized hummingbirds with notched tails that extend past the wingtips. Adult males exhibit bright red bills with black tips, emerald bodies, and sapphire throats and bellies. Female birds have all-black bills, duller gray-green backs, and white underparts. They may sport a white stripe behind the eye.

In 2006, Broad-billed Hummingbirds were reported in Wayne and Tioga counties (the north and south counties in the Finger Lakes area) two months apart, in June and August. They did not stay around at either location.

Broad-bills are not known for long-distance migrations, so what were they doing so far out of their normal range? That’s the thing about rarities – sometimes they stay for days and other times they’re just passing through – who knows?

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A Hummingbird Mimic?

Hummingbird Moths – Hawk Moths and Sphynx Moths

Scientific Name: Genus Hemaris                Size: 2 to 2.5 inches              

Description

These insects mimic hummingbirds in both their flight and feeding patterns. While brightly colored, they lack the iridescent sheen of a real hummingbird, along with a long, thin bill. They can be found all over the US but the widest range is from Texas to Florida to Maine and Alaska.

The two species of what are called “hummingbird moths” start out as Tomato or Tobacco Hornworm caterpillars and morph into either a Hawk or Sphynx moth.

The moths have gray hair which resembles feathers and white, brown, or rust markings. With wingspans between 2 to 6 inches, it’s easy to see how they look like hummingbirds.

Like hummingbirds, these insects can be clearly heard. Their wings beat at 70 beats per second, causing the hum one hears as they pass by.

How do you tell them apart? For one, no bill, no bird. Unlike their avian inspirations, Hummingbird Moths’ tongues are rolled up inside their mouths and unfurled to get the nectar from flowers. Unlike hummingbird tongues, which sit inside their bills.

Hummingbird Facts & Fun Stuff

• A flock of hummingbirds is called a bouquet, a glittering, a shimmer, a hover, or a tune.

• Hummingbirds are unique in the bird world in that their wings are only attached to the bodies at the shoulder joints, which is how they can beat them so quickly and maneuver forwards and backward so deftly.

• Their short legs and tiny feet make it almost impossible to walk or hop, so it’s very rare to find one on the ground. Instead, look at the ends of bare smaller tree branches to find them resting.

Attracting Hummingbirds to your yard

Hummingbirds love tubular flowers like Hummingbird Vine and Cardinal Flower (Lobelia) among many others. The brighter the petals, the more they are attracted, especially to colors like red and orange. A few more plants that attract hummingbirds are Lupines, Penstemon, Columbine, Delphinium, Salvia, Honeysuckle, and Foxglove.

Hummingbirds will also go to plants that attract butterflies like Butterfly Bush, Bee Balm (Monarda), and Butterfly Weed (Asclepias).

A good way to attract hummingbirds is with an inexpensive hummingbird feeder. It doesn’t matter if it’s glass or plastic, it is often a container that is ringed with brightly-colored plastic or metal “flower” ports so that the birds can sip the nectar inside the container just like they would take it from a flower.

A word on the nectar for your feeders – whether you buy it already mixed in liquid form, use a commercially-made mix, or do it yourself – No Red Dye, please! While people have been using red nectar for years, there can be issues causing problems for the birds. Keep it simple. Keep it natural.

Make your own nectar. Nectar is a basic sugar water mixture – One part granulated (white cane) sugar to 4 parts water (one-quarter cup of sugar to 1 cup of water). Heat the water slightly to assist in dissolving the sugar, but don’t boil it. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and then remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely before filling your feeders.

During Spring and Fall migrations, a stronger solution of 3 parts water to 1 part sugar will make a higher-calorie version of the nectar. This will give additional energy when the hummingbirds need it most.

The Best Place to See Hummingbirds in New York

The best place to see hummingbirds in New York state is right in your own yard, from your own windows. You will most likely attract the most common hummingbirds in the state – the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. But be prepared for unexpected visitors.

While you can plan and plant your hummingbird garden and then place your feeder, it takes time for those pollinator-attracting plants to establish themselves. 

While you’re waiting for them to put down roots, you can start by using individual plants in pots – annuals like fuchsia and petunias and one or two of the perennials you’ve chosen. Make your nectar and set up that feeder.

Again, it doesn’t take much to set up and maintain a hummingbird feeder. Remember to change the nectar if it becomes cloudy or it’s old, and wash the feeders occasionally. The birds don’t care if your feeder came from the dollar store, a high-end retailer, or a custom-made artisan. If you are patient, they will find the feeder and your reward will be tiny jeweled birds for you to see.