You’re relaxing in your Chicago backyard when a flash of iridescent green catches your eye. Before you can focus, it’s hovering at your feeder, wings beating so fast they’re just a blur.
Most Chicagoans assume that’s a ruby-throated hummingbird—and they’re usually right. But here’s what surprises even seasoned birders: six different hummingbird species have been documented in the Chicago area, including several that technically shouldn’t be here at all.
Whether you’re a casual bird watcher or someone who keeps binoculars by the window, understanding which hummingbirds in Chicago you might encounter transforms every sighting from routine to remarkable.
Some species arrive like clockwork each spring, while others show up as rare vagrants that send the local birding community into a frenzy.
You’ll learn to identify each species, understand when and where they appear, and discover what makes Chicago an unexpected stopover for these tiny, jewel-toned travelers.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is Chicago’s hometown hero—the only hummingbird species that regularly breeds here. From late April through September, these birds are your most reliable visitors, making them the baseline for identifying any hummingbird you spot in the region.
What Sets Them Apart
Male ruby-throats sport that distinctive gorget—a brilliant ruby-red throat patch that can appear black in poor lighting. Females and juveniles lack this signature feature but display a clean white throat and breast with greenish sides. Both sexes measure about 3 to 3.5 inches long with emerald-green backs that shimmer in sunlight. The slightly forked tail is your secondary identification clue: males show solid dark tail feathers, while females have white-tipped outer tail feathers.
Where You’ll Find Them
Ruby-throated hummingbirds thrive throughout Chicago’s parks, gardens, and forest preserves. You’ll spot them wherever tubular flowers bloom—they’re particularly attracted to native plants like bee balm, cardinal flower, and trumpet vine. The Chicago Botanic Garden and Lincoln Park offer excellent viewing opportunities, but even modest urban gardens with the right flowers draw these regular visitors.
These birds arrive in Chicago as early as late April, with peak numbers appearing in May during spring migration. They breed throughout the summer, and you’ll notice increased activity in August and September as both residents and migrants fuel up for their journey to Central America. Setting up sugar water feeders (one part white sugar to four parts water) dramatically increases your chances of close encounters.
Pro Tip: Ruby-throats are incredibly territorial. If you see aggressive chasing around your feeder, you’re likely watching a male defending his food source. Setting up multiple feeders out of sight from each other can accommodate more birds.
Breeding Behavior You Might Witness
Female ruby-throats build walnut-sized nests from plant down, spider silk, and lichen—camouflaged architectural marvels typically placed on downward-sloping branches 10 to 20 feet high. If you’re lucky enough to find one, observe from a distance; these dedicated mothers raise two tiny chicks alone after the flashy males abandon parental duties.
Rufous Hummingbird
The rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) represents Chicago’s most regular “irregular” visitor—a western species that occasionally wanders far from its typical range. While still uncommon, rufous hummingbirds appear in the Chicago area more frequently than other vagrant species, particularly during fall and winter months.
Key Identification Features
Male rufous hummingbirds are stunning and relatively easy to identify: they display brilliant orange-red plumage on the back, sides, and tail, with an orange-red gorget. This warm rusty coloration contrasts sharply with the ruby-throat’s green back. Female and immature rufous hummingbirds present more identification challenges—they show green backs similar to ruby-throats but typically have more extensive rufous coloring on the sides and tail base. The tail shape differs slightly too: rufous tails appear more rounded than the ruby-throat’s forked tail.
Important Note: Distinguishing female and juvenile rufous hummingbirds from ruby-throats requires careful observation. Look for rufous wash on the flanks and base of the tail feathers—features that ruby-throats never display.
When and Where They Appear
Unlike ruby-throats that depart Chicago by October, rufous hummingbird sightings peak from October through December, with some individuals occasionally overwintering in the region. This counterintuitive timing makes any hummingbird sighting after November a potential rufous encounter. They’ve been documented in Chicago’s suburbs—particularly areas with well-maintained feeders and late-blooming flowers.
If you keep your feeders up through fall and winter (contrary to the myth that feeders prevent migration), you increase your odds of attracting a rufous vagrant. These hardy birds can survive surprisingly cold temperatures when adequate food sources remain available. Several Chicago-area residents have successfully hosted overwintering rufous hummingbirds by maintaining heated feeders and protecting them from freezing.
Why They Stray So Far East
Rufous hummingbirds breed in the Pacific Northwest and typically migrate to Mexico for winter. However, some individuals—especially immature birds—follow an aberrant migration route that brings them east rather than south. Scientists believe this behavior may represent exploratory migration patterns that occasionally establish new wintering grounds. Climate change may also play a role in these shifting patterns, making eastern sightings increasingly common.
Allen’s Hummingbird
Allen’s hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) pushes into “extremely rare” territory for Chicago sightings, but the species has been documented in Illinois, making it a legitimate—if improbable—possibility for sharp-eyed observers.
The Identification Challenge
Here’s where hummingbird identification gets genuinely difficult: adult male Allen’s hummingbirds look nearly identical to male rufous hummingbirds, with extensive orange-rufous plumage and an orange-red gorget. The primary distinguishing feature involves the back—male Allen’s have a green back while rufous males show orange-rufous backs. However, some male rufous hummingbirds also display green backs, creating identification overlap.
| Feature | Allen’s Hummingbird | Rufous Hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Male back color | Always green | Usually orange-rufous, sometimes green |
| Male gorget | Orange-red | Orange-red |
| Tail feathers (male) | Narrower, specific notching pattern | Broader, different notching |
| Range | Coastal California primarily | Pacific Northwest to Mexico |
| Chicago likelihood | Extremely rare vagrant | Rare but more regular vagrant |
Females and immatures of both species are virtually indistinguishable in the field without examining specific tail feather measurements and shapes—a task requiring high-quality photographs and expert analysis.
Documentation Matters
If you suspect you’ve spotted an Allen’s hummingbird in Chicago, documentation becomes crucial. Capture multiple clear photographs showing the back color, gorget, and tail spread. Contact local birding organizations who can help verify the sighting and contribute to scientific understanding of vagrant patterns. Allen’s sightings are rare enough that each documented case adds valuable data to migration research.
The species’ typical range encompasses coastal California, with a small breeding population in Oregon. Any appearance in Chicago represents a significant geographic displacement—a navigational error or exploratory migration that birders dream of witnessing.
Anna’s Hummingbird
Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) represents another western species that very occasionally appears in Illinois as a vagrant. Originally restricted to California, Anna’s hummingbirds have expanded their range northward and, rarely, eastward in recent decades.
Distinctive Appearance
Unlike the orange-red tones of rufous and Allen’s species, male Anna’s hummingbirds display an entirely different color palette. The gorget extends up onto the crown, creating a rose-pink to reddish-purple “helmet” effect that covers both throat and head. This extensive iridescent coloration makes properly-lit males unmistakable. The body shows bronze-green upperparts and grayish underparts—no rufous coloring anywhere.
Key Insight: The iridescent feathers on hummingbirds are structurally colored, not pigmented. This means the brilliant colors you see result from microscopic structures that refract light—which is why the colors can appear to “switch off” when viewing angles change.
Female Anna’s lack the extensive head coloration but often show a small central gorget patch of rose-pink—a feature that helps distinguish them from ruby-throat females, which have completely white throats. Anna’s are also slightly larger and stockier than ruby-throats, with a relatively straighter bill.
The Expansion Mystery
Anna’s hummingbirds have dramatically expanded their range over the past century. Once confined to California’s coast, they now breed regularly into British Columbia and occasionally appear as far east as the Atlantic coast. Scientists attribute this expansion to several factors: the proliferation of exotic flowering plants in urban gardens, widespread use of hummingbird feeders, and the bird’s exceptional cold tolerance compared to other hummingbird species.
Any Anna’s sighting in Chicago would be noteworthy enough to report to eBird and local rare bird alerts. While possible, especially during fall and winter when other vagrant species appear, Anna’s remains one of the least likely hummingbirds you’ll encounter in the region.
Calliope Hummingbird
The calliope hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) holds the distinction of being North America’s smallest bird—and one of the rarest potential visitors to Chicago. At just 3.25 inches long and weighing less than a tenth of an ounce, calliopies are tiny even by hummingbird standards.
Unique Identification Marks
Male calliope hummingbirds display a gorget unlike any other species: instead of a solid colored throat patch, they show wine-red to magenta streaks radiating from a white throat base, creating a distinctive “whiskered” appearance. This field mark is diagnostic—no other hummingbird shows this pattern. The body appears relatively short-tailed and compact, with bronze-green upperparts.
Females present more identification challenges but show very short tails and bills, subtle peachy wash on the flanks, and minimal tail markings compared to other small hummingbird species. Their diminutive size can be helpful if you’re comparing them directly to other hummingbirds.
Why Chicago Sightings Are So Rare
Calliope hummingbirds breed in mountain meadows of the western United States and Canada, migrating to southern Mexico for winter. Their migration route runs primarily along the Rocky Mountains—thousands of miles west of Illinois. Any Chicago appearance represents a dramatic navigational deviation from normal patterns.
What Drives Vagrancy?
- Inexperienced juveniles making their first migration may follow incorrect compass bearings
- Storm displacement can push migrating birds far off course
- Genetic variation in migratory programming occasionally produces individuals that travel in atypical directions
- Exploratory behavior may be hardwired into some individuals, potentially establishing new migration routes over evolutionary time
Despite the extreme rarity, maintaining hummingbird feeders through fall and winter gives you a non-zero chance of attracting vagrant species. The Chicago birding community maintains active reporting networks for just such rare encounters.
Broad-Billed Hummingbird
The broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris) represents the rarest hummingbird possibility in Chicago—an “extremely rare vagrant” that would be extraordinary to encounter. This southwestern species occasionally wanders outside its typical range, but Illinois sightings remain exceptionally uncommon.
Standing Out From the Crowd
Adult male broad-billed hummingbirds look distinctly different from other species on this list. They display a deep blue-green body with a brilliant blue throat and a bright red-orange bill with a black tip. This colorful bill is the species’ namesake feature and an excellent identification tool—most other hummingbirds show entirely dark bills.
Females are less distinctive but still show characteristics that separate them from ruby-throats: they display a pale gray throat and breast, a prominent white stripe behind the eye, and often show reddish coloring at the base of the lower mandible. The overall impression is of a longer-billed, paler-breasted bird than the typical female ruby-throat.
Common Mistake: Don’t assume every hummingbird with an orange bill marking is a broad-billed. Young ruby-throats occasionally show orange at the bill base as they mature. Look for the complete suite of field marks including body color, eye stripe, and overall proportions.
Geographic Context
Broad-billed hummingbirds primarily inhabit Mexico, with breeding populations extending into southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and rarely Texas. Their typical range sits over a thousand miles southwest of Chicago. Any appearance in Illinois would represent a significant vagrant event worthy of detailed documentation and verification by experienced observers.
What To Do If You Think You’ve Spotted One
The extreme rarity of broad-billed hummingbirds in Chicago means extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence:
- Photograph extensively from multiple angles in different lighting conditions
- Document behavior including feeding patterns, vocalizations, and flight characteristics
- Contact local experts immediately through Chicago Audubon or Illinois Ornithological Society
- Submit to eBird with detailed notes and request rare bird alert distribution
- Preserve the habitat by maintaining feeders and flowering plants that keep the bird accessible for verification
Even if the sighting turns out to be a more common species, you’ll have contributed valuable observation practice that strengthens your identification skills for future encounters.
Making the Most of Your Hummingbird Watching
Understanding which hummingbird species can appear in Chicago transforms casual observation into genuine discovery. While you’ll see ruby-throated hummingbirds regularly from spring through fall, keeping your eyes—and feeders—open during unexpected seasons creates opportunities to spot vagrant species that most people never encounter.
The key to successful hummingbird identification involves patient observation of multiple field marks: gorget color and pattern, back coloration, tail shape and color, overall size, and timing of appearance. When you combine these features with awareness of what’s possible in Chicago, you develop the skills to recognize when something unusual hovers at your feeder.
Keep your feeders maintained through October and beyond, plant native flowering species that bloom at different times, and stay connected with local birding communities through eBird and regional rare bird alerts. Whether you’re marveling at a common ruby-throat’s aerial acrobatics or documenting a once-in-a-lifetime vagrant, hummingbirds in Chicago offer moments of natural wonder that reward attention and patience.
