The following “traffic report” describes northeast US nocturnal bird migration traffic rates, as calculated from a completely automated pipeline of algorithms. The images you see in Traffic Reports present the migration traffic rate (MTR), direction of bird movement, and speed of bird movement. See our first report or scientific paper (currently a preprint) for more information about […]  Read more...

Favorable conditions mid period bring light to moderate movements of American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Bale Eagle, Northern Flicker, and Yellow-rumped Warbler to the West, while moderate to very heavy weekend movements of Gadwall, Ruddy Duck, Horned Grebe, Sandhill Crane, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, and Fox Sparrow take flight in the East.  Read more...

Light to moderate flights in the West last weekend featured Bufflehead, Cackling Goose, Ring-necked Duck, Herring Gull, Varied Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco, while several pulses of moderate to very heavy flights in the East featured Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Northern Harrier, Wilson's Snipe, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Meadowlark, Snow Bunting, White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Le Conte's Sparrow, and Field Sparrow.  Read more...

While the favorable conditions in the West arrive during the middle of the period and bring light to moderate movement featuring Western Grebe, Northern Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco, the East experiences more favorable conditions for several waves of moderate to heavy flights featuring American White Pelican, Merlin, Wilson's Snipe, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow.  Read more...

A week of light to moderate movements in the southern half of the West featured Red-necked Grebe, Mew Gull, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrow, while moderate to heavy flights in the East, particularly in the Upper Midwest, Appalachians, and central Plains, featured Cooper's Hawk, American Coot, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow.  Read more...

Migration events over the last week were respectable in size, but we did not see the widespread, monster movements that often grace this time of season. For example, in our paper characterizing nocturnal movements in the northeastern US, the largest movements we reported occurred during the first week of October. Remember, migration traffic rate is defined as the number of birds from 0-3,000 meters above radar stations moving hourly over a 1 km line drawn on the ground.  Read more...

Favorable conditions begin and end the period in the West where light to moderate flights will feature Common Loon, Gadwall, Turkey Vulture, Ruby-crownd Kinglet, Yellow Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow, while the non coastal East sees an extended period of favorable conditions bring moderate to heavy flights featuring Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Flicker, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Western Meadowlark.  Read more...

Light to moderate flights in the West, particularly the northern extents, featured American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Flicker, Varied Thrush, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco, while the East saw moderate to very heavy flights from the middle of the period that featured Tundra Swan, Northern Pintail, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.  Read more...

BirdCast was featured prominently in the New York/Region section of the New York Times on 29 September 2015. Read the article here.  Read more...

Update 930am EDT, 2 October 2015 The newest models from the National Hurricane Center suggest Hurricane Joaquin will stay far to the east of the Atlantic Coast. We will continue to monitor the storm, although the most likely outcome from the avian perspective is a windfall of Nearctic and Neotropical migrants in the Palearctic! Given […]  Read more...

Once again, Team BirdCast is excited to bring you reports of migration traffic rates in the northeast United States, calculated from a completely automated pipeline of algorithms. The images you see in Traffic Reports present the migration traffic rate (MTR), direction of bird movement, and speed of bird movement. See our first report or scientific paper (currently a […]  Read more...

Team BirdCast is excited to debut daily reports of migration traffic rates in the northeast United States. Each night, from local sunset to local sunrise in the Eastern time zone, a BirdCast server downloads radar data from 16 stations in the northeastern US. These data are composed of every scan of the atmosphere made by these radars during this time […]  Read more...

NOTE: Check out our new Traffic Reports, above! Continental Summary The West will see light to moderate flights, particularly in more northern reaches, featuring Eared Grebe, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Townsend’s Warbler, Brewer’s Blackbird, and Lincoln’s Sparrow, while moderate to very heavy mid to late week flights featuring Turkey Vulture, Wilson’s Snipe, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, Black-and-white […]  Read more...

Moderate and heavy flights were the norm this week for many areas of the country, featuring Greater White-fronted Goose, Ring-necked Duck, Say's Phoebe, Varied Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox Sparrow, and Golden-crowned Sparrow in the West and American Bittern, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and White-crowned Sparrow in the East.  Read more...

A patchwork of favorable conditions across northern reaches of the West, primarily, brings light to moderate flights featuring Pectoral Sandpiper, Orange-crowned Warbler, a suite of vagrant eastern warblers, Brewer’s Blackbird, and Savannah Sparrow, while a weekend cold front kicks off moderate to very heavy flights followed later in the period by another similarly intense pulse, both featuring Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Swainson’s Thrush, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, and Clay-colored Sparrow.  Read more...

A busy week of migration featured light to moderate flights across much of the West, featuring Cackling Goose, Dunlin, Black Tern, Vaux's Swift, Tree Swallow, Black-headed Grosbeak and Fox Sparrow, and heavy flights to begin and end the period in the East, featuring some huge movements of American Redstart among other species such as Broad-winged Hawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, Palm Warbler, Northern Parula and White-crowned Sparrow.  Read more...

BirdCast predicted a large movement of birds in the greater New York City area on 11-12 September: first, nearly a week has passed of summer-like conditions in the greater New York City metropolitan area, preventing most exodus of migrants that is typical under more favorable conditions; second, a moderate to heavy flight of birds occurred in the periphery of upstate New York and parts of New England last night, indicating a number of birds in the immediate vicinities of the New York City metropolitan area (the image above shows some of these movements, and you can visit our analysis to read more about these flights); and finally, and most important, conditions were favorable for migration this evening, with northerly winds, clear skies, and substantially cooler temperatures than the past week.  Read more...

Heavy migration is currently blanketing much of the eastern half of the United States, especially in the midwest, southern Plains, and eastern seaboard. Many birds are currently visible in the Tribute in Light memorial in New York City.  Read more...

A week featuring Turkey Vulture, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Green-tailed Towhee, and Vesper Sparrow in light to moderate movements to begin and end the period are in store for the West, while moderate to heavy flights featuring Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Acadian Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Tennessee Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, American Redstart, Summer Tanager, and Baltimore Oriole begin and end the period in the East.  Read more...

For those in the greater New York City metropolitan area, the coming night brings the return of the Tribute in Light Memorial. The powerful, side-by-side beams of light aimed skyward are first and foremost a somber tribute to the lives lost on September 11th 2001; but they also provide a rare opportunity to see nocturnal bird […]  Read more...