Hummingbirds in Washington State: 4 Species to Spot and How to Attract Them
October 26, 2026
Washington state hummingbirds might seem like a single backyard visitor, but the state actually supports four distinct species, each keeping its own calendar, range, and personality. Four hummingbird species can be found in Washington State – the Anna’s, Rufous, Calliope (more rare), and Black-chinned (more rare), according to Birds Connect Seattle. One of them never leaves the state at all, which is unusual among a family of birds famous for long-distance travel.
Nationwide, there have been reports of as many as 27 different species of hummingbirds seen in the United States, but only a handful show up with any regularity in the Pacific Northwest. If you want the fuller picture of how Washington’s lineup compares, the different types of hummingbirds found across North America make a useful reference point. Below, each of the four regular Washington species gets its own breakdown of appearance, range, and timing, along with tips for drawing them to a yard.
| Species | Status in Washington | Typical Arrival | Size | Key ID Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Year-round resident (west side) | Present all year | ~4 inches | Rose-pink head and throat (male) |
| Rufous Hummingbird | Migratory breeder | Late February–April | ~3.75 inches | Copper-orange body (male) |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | Migratory breeder, mostly east side | Spring | ~3.75 inches | Black throat with violet band (male) |
| Calliope Hummingbird | Migratory breeder, mostly east side | Late April–mid May | ~3 inches | Magenta throat streaks (male) |
Pro Tip: The proper mix for hummingbird feeders is one part white sugar to four parts water, brought to a boil to sterilize it and cooled before use; a stronger mix can cause liver damage, per the City of Washougal.
1. Anna’s Hummingbird
The Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna) is the one species Washington residents can count on seeing at any point in the calendar. Anna’s hummingbirds are tiny birds that are primarily green and gray, with the male’s head and throat iridescent reddish-pink, while the female’s throat is grayish with bits of red spotting. That coloring, paired with a stocky build, makes males easy to pick out even in poor light.
This bird’s presence in Washington is a fairly modern development. Anna’s hummingbirds are a fairly recent arrival, having only been in the Northwest for about 30 years, spreading here from their original range in California after fires destroyed their habitat. Their original range once ran no farther north than Northern California, and Seattle Audubon’s BirdWeb dates Washington’s first confirmed breeding record to 1976 in Tacoma, with the species since spreading through the lowlands of southeastern Puget Sound.
That expansion has made Anna’s the dominant species statewide. Anna’s is Washington’s only true year-round resident hummingbird, and by a wide margin its most common, with a statewide peak frequency of 34% based on eBird data, according to Pop’s Birding. Anyone who keeps a feeder full through a Puget Sound winter is almost certainly hosting this species, since it’s the only Washington hummingbird built for that. The same year-round pattern holds just south of the border in Portland, where Anna’s has become an equally reliable backyard fixture.
Nesting habits set this species apart further. Anna’s hummingbirds typically nest during the cooler months, a rarity among hummingbirds, building nests from plant fibers, feathers, and down held together with spider silk. Their range has also stretched well beyond Washington’s borders; their range runs from British Columbia to Baja California in both summer and winter, which explains why the species is just as familiar to birders in Southern California as it is in Seattle.
2. Rufous Hummingbird
For decades, the Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) was the species most Washington residents pictured when they thought of a hummingbird, and it still dominates the spring migration window. Rufous hummingbirds arrive in their breeding territory in Washington at the end of February until the end of April, mostly in March, and mainly nest in the mountains. That early return, well ahead of most songbird migrants, is part of what makes them so noticeable.
Color gives this species its name. The word “rufous” is Latin for red, and this hummingbird is a reddish-brown bird with an orange-red throat patch, or gorget. Females, by contrast, have whitish, speckled throats, green backs and crowns, and rufous, white-tipped tail feathers. That warm coloring places it among the state’s more distinctive brown birds in Washington state, even though its throat flash is unmistakably its own.
Its breeding range stretches farther than any other West Coast hummingbird. Rufous hummingbirds breed along the West Coast from Southern Oregon to as far north as Southeast Alaska and winter in the Yucatan in Mexico. That corridor runs directly through Oregon, which shares nearly identical arrival timing with Washington’s Cascade foothills and coastal lowlands.
Temperament is the other trait birders learn quickly. These aggressive birds will buzz any creature that enters their territory and chase all other hummingbirds away from bird feeders they have claimed. That attitude has real conservation weight behind it: Rufous hummingbirds are listed on both the Audubon-Washington and Partners in Flight lists of species-at-risk, according to Seattle Audubon’s BirdWeb.
3. Black-Chinned Hummingbird
The Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) is the quiet member of Washington’s lineup, both in numbers and, almost, in sound. Black-chinned hummingbirds are the least common of Washington’s breeding hummingbirds. They favor the drier interior over the wetter coastal lowlands, and most sightings cluster east of the Cascades.
Identification depends heavily on light angle. Males have glossy dark rose-red throats and crowns that may appear black or dark purple in low light, with a mostly greyish underside and a metallic green back. In flat or shaded conditions, the throat can read as plain black, which is exactly where the species gets its common name.
Sound is actually one of the better clues to this bird’s presence. Males are unusual among Washington’s hummingbirds in that they produce an actual song rather than simple chips and buzzes, a scratchy, repeated chatter delivered as they move between flowers. That vocal habit pairs with dramatic courtship flights: males make elaborate dive displays at other birds and sometimes even at people, producing high-pitched, loud popping sounds with their tail feathers at the bottom of the dive.
Range explains why this species leans east-side in Washington. The Black-chinned hummingbird breeds across the western United States, from the Great Basin and Mojave deserts to as far north as British Columbia, migrating to Mexico and Baja California in the winter. That desert-edge range is shared with populations farther south in Arizona, and within Washington the species turns up most often in river corridors, wetlands, and towns within steppe and Ponderosa pine zones east of the Cascades.
4. Calliope Hummingbird
The Calliope hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) is Washington’s headline act for sheer novelty: it’s the smallest bird likely to turn up at a feeder anywhere in the country. Measuring a mere 3 inches long and weighing one-tenth of an ounce, roughly the same as a table tennis ball, the Calliope hummingbird is incredibly tiny. Eric Rasmussen, an avian scientist at the MPG Ranch in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, notes that this hummingbird is the smallest bird seen in the United States, a point made on Birds and Blooms.
Its throat pattern is the giveaway once you spot one. The male has a throat pattern of raised purplish-red stripes on a white background, giving it a peppermint-candy appearance. Females and juveniles lack that flashy streaking, showing plainer green-and-buff plumage that can make them easy to overlook next to a showier Rufous.
Habitat in Washington skews toward higher, drier ground. Calliope hummingbirds are commonly found on the east side of the Cascades in brush-lands, dry open forests, especially Ponderosa pine, meadows, and openings at mid- to high elevations, though in western Washington they can be found breeding along the upper Skagit River near Newhalem in Whatcom County, and non-breeders and migrants can be found above the treeline, west of the Cascades, and in the Columbia Basin. That mountain preference puts them in habitat similar to what breeding populations use across the border in Idaho.
Timing is tight for this species. The Calliope hummingbird winters in central Mexico and arrives in Washington from late April to mid-May, according to BirdWeb. Despite its size, it covers real distance to get here: it is the smallest long-distance migrant bird species, with individuals traveling as far as 5,600 miles in a year between their breeding and wintering grounds.
Turning a Washington yard into a stop on that route doesn’t take much specialized equipment. A clean feeder filled with the standard 4:1 sugar-water ratio, paired with a few nectar-rich native plants, covers most of what all four species need.
- Change nectar every 1 to 2 days in warm weather, or every 3 to 5 days when it’s cooler, to keep it from fermenting.
- Skip red dye in the mixture — plain sugar water works just as well and is easier on the birds.
- Plant tubular natives such as red columbine, penstemon, and orange honeysuckle to supplement feeders with real nectar sources.
- Add a shallow water feature that gently bubbles if space allows; hummingbirds use these for bathing and drinking.
- Avoid pesticides near feeding areas, since all four species also rely on small insects for protein.
Important Note: Because they hover and can reach deep into narrow, tubular blooms, hummingbirds pollinate flowers that few other backyard visitors can access, making feeders and native plantings a genuine benefit to local ecosystems, not just a spectacle for the yard.
For readers building out a broader native-plant or feeder setup, the guide to what attracts hummingbirds goes deeper into plant selection and feeder placement than a quick-reference list can. Knowing which of Washington’s four species is likely at a given feeder, and when, turns a passing flash of color into an identification anyone can make with confidence.