THE FLIGHT
A blur and a hum
It beats its wings about 80 times a second, so fast that it hums. It hovers at a flower to feed, then zips to the next.
See the numbersEurope has no wild hummingbirds, but it has this.
The hummingbird hawk-moth hovers in front of flowers, drinks through a long curled tongue and hums as it goes. It flies in daylight, arrives from southern Europe and North Africa, and turns up in gardens across the UK.
- Flies by day
- Hovers to feed
- Loves tubular flowers
- Look on warm, sunny afternoons
THE SHORT ANSWER
Chunky, orange,
and always hovering.
Most people mistake it for a tiny bird.
Three things give it away.
THE LOOK
Grey-brown with an orange flash
Grey-brown forewings, orange hindwings and a black-and-white chequered tail. The tongue is about an inch long and curls up when not in use.
Tell it apart
THE FLOWERS
Tubular and nectar-rich
Honeysuckle, buddleia and red valerian are favourites. BTO adds pink and purple flowers such as viper's bugloss.
Plant for it
FOUR WAYS TO SEE ONE
Give it a reason
to stop by.
You cannot make a migrant arrive, but you can give it the flowers it looks for and know when to watch.
Grow tubular flowers
Honeysuckle, buddleia and red valerian are named by Butterfly Conservation as flowers that may help bring it in.
Watch on warm, sunny days
BTO says watching these plants on warm, sunny days is the best way to spot one, especially in July and August.
Leave some bedstraw
Caterpillars feed on lady's bedstraw, hedge bedstraw, wild madder and cleavers, so a wild corner gives them somewhere to breed.
Record what you see
Butterfly Conservation asks people to submit sightings to the National Moth Recording Scheme.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Fast wings,
and good years.
One figure on how it flies,
one on how a warm summer changes sightings.
80/s
Wingbeats every second
Butterfly Conservation says the moth beats its wings 80 times every second while it hovers and feeds, which is what makes the humming sound.
WINGBEATS · BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION
4× more
Gardens recording one, record year vs typical
In July 2022, 5.2% of BTO Garden BirdWatch gardens recorded a hummingbird hawk-moth, against 1.3% in a typical year, and 7.5% in southeast England.
GARDENS · BTO, JULY 2022
Butterfly Conservation later estimated a roughly ten-fold increase in sightings across the UK in 2022, based on provisional figures.
A QUICK SEASON CHECK
How likely is
a sighting?
Pick a time of year to see how likely you are to spot one in a UK garden. The bar shows how often sightings turn up at that time.
Based on Butterfly Conservation, BTO Garden BirdWatch and The Wildlife Trusts. Numbers vary a lot from year to year.
MOTH OR BIRD?
A case of
convergent evolution.
Real hummingbirds live only in the Americas, so the Great Fen Wildlife Trust calls this moth the only hummingbird in Europe. The two are not related: they arrived at the same way of feeding, hovering at tube-shaped flowers, separately.
Look for grey-brown forewings, orange hindwings and a black-and-white chequered tail. Unlike most moths it flies in the day, and Butterfly Conservation says it can even fly and feed in the rain.
In conversation
Questions people ask
Is it a bird or an insect?
An insect. It is a day-flying hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum, named for the way it hovers at flowers like a hummingbird. Wild hummingbirds are found only in the Americas.
When can I see one in the UK?
Butterfly Conservation says it flies between May and September, with occasional sightings all year. BTO says July and August give the best chance.
Where does it come from?
It is a migrant from southern Europe and North Africa. Some now overwinter in sheltered places, mostly in South West England, and some breed in the UK.
What does it eat?
Adults drink nectar from tubular flowers such as honeysuckle, buddleia and red valerian. The caterpillars eat bedstraws, wild madder and cleavers.
Why do some years have more?
BTO linked the 2022 influx to a long spell of warm southerly winds, and Butterfly Conservation says moth migration to the UK is increasing as species respond to the changing climate.
Sources
Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.
- Butterfly Conservation: Species of the month, Humming-bird Hawk-moth (May 2025)
- Butterfly Conservation: Did you spot the moth that looks like a Hummingbird in your garden? (March 2023)
- BTO press release: Record summer for 'hummingbirds' in UK gardens (August 2022)
- The Great Fen (Wildlife Trust): Hummingbird hawk-moth
- Wikipedia: Hummingbird hawk-moth