Laura Erickson's For the Birds

This hummingbird, who breeds in the Rocky Mountains all the way up into Alaska, ostensibly winters in Mexico, but more and more of them are turning up in the eastern United States, mostly concentrated near the Gulf Coast, but increasingly further north as well. Scott Weidensaul, an authority on hummingbirds, wrote this helpful article about birds overwintering in cold areas: Won’t a Hummingbird Die in the Cold?.

One Rufous Hummingbird spent over 2 weeks in my own yard in Duluth, MN, from November 17–December 3, 2004. Then, in 2021, another showed up here before Halloween and stuck around through late afternoon on December 4. I wrote an FAQ about hummingbirds appearing so late and even wintering in northern states on my blog here.