Southaven Hosts First North Mississippi Hummingbird Festival
Photo: Attendees at the first North Mississippi Hummingbird Festival walk through the June Wheeler Memorial Hummingbird Garden at Snowden Grove Park. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Southaven, Miss. – The first North Mississippi Hummingbird Festival took flight in Southaven Saturday, bringing together nature lovers, educators, and families to celebrate pollinators and the memory of a local resident who cherished hummingbirds.
Although organizers admitted the event arrived a little early in the season for a large number of hummingbirds, the festival still drew a strong turnout. Attendees enjoyed programs that included a morning butterfly session, educational talks on pollinators, and walking through the newly established June Wheeler Memorial Hummingbird Garden.
The garden, built with the support of the City of Southaven and Quality Landscaping as part of Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, was created as a tribute to Alderman John David Wheeler’s late mother June, who instilled in him a lifelong love of hummingbirds.
“What better tribute to her than this garden,” Wheeler said. “She would have loved it.”
Festival organizers hope the event will grow into an annual tradition, carrying on the legacy of the well-known Strawberry Plains Hummingbird Festival, which had been held in Holly Springs but in recent years had not been held. Plans are already underway for more plantings and expanded programming in the months ahead.
“This is about teaching and encouraging,” Wheeler said. “We may not have a lot of hummingbirds this year, but with these gardens and pollinator plants, we’ll see more in the years to come.”
Experts say the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the most common and widespread species across the state of Mississippi. They typically arrive in early spring (March–April) during migration and remain through the summer breeding season. In the fall (late August through September), they migrate south again, and this is often when you’ll see the largest numbers around feeders and flowering plants.
Other species are rare but occasionally spotted, especially in the winter months, including Rufous Hummingbirds and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, though these are considered uncommon visitors.
Mississippi provides excellent hummingbird habitat thanks to its mix of forests, flowering plants, and gardens. Festivals and gardens — like the one in Southaven — help attract them by planting nectar-rich flowers and providing feeders, while also educating the public about pollinators.
