Do Hummingbirds Make Noise? The Hum, Chirps and Dives

The hum is wings, not voice — but hummingbirds also chip, chatter and make sound with their tail feathers during courtship dives. What each one means.

By Zakaria September 16, 2026 4 min read Save to Pinterest

A male Anna's hummingbird perched on a bare twig, magenta throat flared toward the camera — Photo: Lukehewitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Yes — and in three different ways, only one of which involves a voice. The famous hum is mechanical. The chirping is vocal. And the loud squeak at the end of a courtship dive is made with tail feathers.

The short answer

Hummingbirds make noise three ways. The hum is mechanical, produced by wings beating roughly 50 to 80 times per second, and differs in pitch between species. They also vocalise constantly — sharp chips from a perch advertise territory, rapid chatter accompanies chases, and some species such as Anna's hummingbird have a real scratchy song. Third, several species make sound with their feathers: the loud squeak at the bottom of an Anna's courtship dive comes from the outer tail feathers fluttering in the airflow, not from the throat, which was confirmed by experiments that silenced the dive by removing those feathers.

The hum is wings, not voice — 50–80 beats a second
Chips and chatter are territorial, and constant near feeders
Some species genuinely sing; many mostly do not
The dive squeak is made with tail feathers
Feeder noise is an argument about the feeder

Three sound sources

What you are hearing

Sound	Made by	Means
Continuous hum	Wings, 50–80 beats/sec	Nothing — it is unavoidable flight noise
Sharp repeated chip	Voice, from a perch	Territory advertisement and warning
Rapid harsh chatter	Voice, in flight	An actual chase in progress
Scratchy buzzy song	Voice, from an exposed perch	Male display, species-dependent
Soft quiet calls	Voice, close range	Female to fledglings
Loud squeak at the end of a dive	Tail feathers	Courtship display
Trill or whistle in flight	Wing feathers	Species-specific; identifies the bird

The hum

Pure physics. A hummingbird’s wings beat roughly 50 to 80 times per second depending on species — fast enough that the air being pushed produces an audible tone rather than individual beats.

Because wingbeat frequency varies between species, the pitch of the hum varies too, enough that experienced listeners can identify some species by the sound of the bird passing. It is not something the bird chooses or can turn off; it is the by-product of flying that way.

Larger birds beat far too slowly to hum. Hummingbirds got the name for a reason.

The voice

They are noisier than most people expect, and near a feeder almost all of it is about who owns the feeder.

Chips — a sharp, high, repeated note, usually from a favoured perch with a view — they perch far more than people realise. This is a male advertising ownership and warning rivals off, and it can go on for very long stretches.
Chatter — faster and harsher, and it accompanies an actual chase.
Song — Anna’s hummingbird has a genuinely scratchy, buzzy song delivered from an exposed perch, and several tropical species are more elaborate. The ruby-throated hummingbird, the common species across eastern North America, is far less musical.
Soft calls between a female and fledglings, quiet and easy to miss.

Which is why one bird seems to own your feeder

Hummingbirds are extremely territorial around concentrated food. A single dominant bird typically claims a feeder and spends the day guarding it. If you want more birds and less fighting, put out several small feeders spread out and out of sight of one another rather than one large one — a bird cannot defend what it cannot see.

The dive squeak

The most interesting one, and a genuine piece of settled science.

A male Anna’s hummingbird climbs to 100 feet or more, plunges toward a female, and at the bottom of the dive produces a loud sharp squeak. For a long time this was assumed to be vocal.

It is not. At the base of the dive the bird spreads its outer tail feathers, and airflow makes them flutter and sound — the same principle as a blade of grass held between your thumbs. Researchers confirmed it by removing or modifying those feathers, which silenced the dive while leaving the bird’s voice intact.

Other species make wing trills and whistles in ordinary flight by the same mechanism — the broad-tailed hummingbird’s metallic wing trill is distinctive enough to identify the bird without seeing it.

Reading your own yard

Constant chipping from one perch — a resident male has claimed the feeder.
Harsh chatter and blurred chases — a rival is testing him.
A loud squeak overhead in spring — courtship diving, if you are in Anna’s range.
A change in the hum’s pitch — quite possibly a different species passing through.
Quiet, and no birds — worth checking the feeder rather than the birds: nectar ferments fast in warm weather and a sour feeder empties a garden quickly.

Common questions

Do hummingbirds make noise?

Yes, in three distinct ways. The hum everyone knows is mechanical — air moving over wings beating roughly 50 to 80 times a second, not a vocalisation at all. They also have real voices and use them constantly: sharp chips, rapid chatter and, in some species, a genuine song. And several species produce sound with their feathers, most dramatically at the bottom of a courtship dive, where Anna's hummingbird makes a loud squeak with its tail rather than its throat.

What does a hummingbird chirp mean?

Usually territory. Sharp repeated chips from a perch are a male advertising and warning others off, and rapid harsh chatter accompanies actual chases at a feeder. Softer, quieter calls pass between a female and fledglings. Because hummingbirds are extremely territorial around a concentrated food source, most of the noise you hear near a feeder is an argument about the feeder.

Why do hummingbirds squeak when they dive?

In Anna's hummingbird the loud squeak at the bottom of a courtship dive is made by the tail, not the voice. The bird climbs high, plunges, and at the base of the dive spreads its outer tail feathers so air makes them flutter and produce a sharp chirp — an effect confirmed by experiments where removing those feathers silenced the dive. Several other species make similar mechanical sounds with wings or tail during display.

What makes the humming sound?

The wings. At roughly 50 to 80 beats per second depending on species, the wings push air fast enough to produce an audible tone, and the pitch differs between species because their wingbeat frequencies differ. It is purely mechanical — the bird is not doing it deliberately and cannot switch it off. Larger birds beat too slowly to hum, which is why hummingbirds are the ones named after the sound.

Do hummingbirds sing?

Some do. Anna's hummingbird has a scratchy, buzzy song that males deliver from an exposed perch for long stretches, and several tropical species have more elaborate songs. Many others, including the ruby-throated hummingbird common across eastern North America, are far less musical and communicate mostly in chips and chatter. So whether you hear singing depends heavily on which species visits your feeder.

Why are the hummingbirds at my feeder so noisy?

Because a feeder is a concentrated food source and hummingbirds defend those fiercely. One dominant bird typically claims it and spends the day chipping from a nearby perch and chasing rivals off, which produces most of the noise. The fix, if you want more birds and less fighting, is several small feeders spread out and out of sight of one another rather than one large one — a bird cannot guard what it cannot see.

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A ruby-throated hummingbird at a nectar feeder

Backyard Animals · Sep 15, 2026