International Hummingbird Society

Founded in 1996, the International Hummingbird Society's mission is to educate people about hummingbirds and work internationally to protect them. 

Across the Americas more than 250 hummingbird species are experiencing population decline, including North America's Rufous, Allen's and Broad-tailed hummingbirds. Threats including climate change, habitat degradation, window strikes, cat predation, and illegal trade are responsible for the shrinking hummingbird populations, putting a number of species at risk of extinction. We need to reverse this trend. We know that any conservation efforts start with education. People need to understand the threats and vulnerability of these amazing flying jewels, so they can join us in their conservation.

Headquartered in Sedona, Arizona we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on hummingbird conservation and educating people about hummingbirds. Through our work, we strive to inspire people to learn more about hummingbirds, understand the threats to their conservation, and take action to protect them for future generations.

1. We educate people about hummingbirds through our website, our written materials, our call center and our annual Sedona Hummingbird Festival, which brings together hummingbird experts and enthusiasts from around the world.
2. We promote habitat expansion through our Certified Hummingbird Haven program -- encouraging and educating people across the Americas on how to transform their gardens into hummingbird havens that help local and migrating hummingbirds.
3. Our conservation efforts focus on critically endangered species including the Juan Fernández Firecrown found on Robinson Crusoe Island off of the coast of Chile and the Chilean Woodstar that resides high in the remote Atacama desert region of northern Chile, as well as the threatened Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird found only in a very small region of northern Peru.
4. We support banding projects that allow us to collect important data on hummingbird migration patterns to better understand population trends.
5. Our annual Sedona Hummingbird Festival is a three-day festival each year in July. Hummingbird experts from around the world come to speak and educate enthusiasts about hummingbirds. Visitors to the festival experience live hummingbird banding, enjoy educational birding trips by the Northern Arizona Audubon Society, and can see hummingbirds in action at beautiful gardens around Sedona.

The International Hummingbird Society is funded primarily by memberships: individual/family, business, and corporate sponsors. Our current membership is dispersed across all US states and many foreign countries.

Main image: Ruby-throated Hummingbird by Harold Davis (IHS Flash of Red photo contest)

Gallery photos by Alice Madar: Juan Fernández Firecrown (male), Black-chinned Hummingbird, Juan Fernández Firecrown (female).