Welcome back to the Fall 2013 edition of BirdCast! Many with an eye toward monitoring migration have been watching the slow transition from the breeding season into the earliest of the autumn’s movements since the beginning of July. Those with an eye to the coast (and wetlands in general) probably saw the first southbound shorebirds […]  Read more...

Team BirdCast was the recipient of the Best Paper Award for the Computational Sustainability Track of AAAI-2013 (The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence), a recognition that is sponsored by the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) of the Computing Research Association (CRA) and was presented at the annual meeting in Seattle, Washington. The paper, entitled “Approximate […]  Read more...

Thankfully, Tropical and Post Tropical Storm Andrea was neither an epic nor devastating storm. It moved rapidly from the Gulf Coast off the coast of New England, bringing heavy rains primarily, and its speed and eventual path made it mostly an ornithological bust. Some species may have been displaced, but probably the only noticeable appearances […]  Read more...

The official start of the 2013 hurricane season in the Atlantic was 1 June. The current forecasts suggest an active season, as evidenced by the AccuWeather summary of NOAA data below: Team BirdCast will be monitoring hurricanes and discussing the birds that they entrain and displace throughout the 2013 hurricane season. With each discussion, we […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Some light to moderate movements continued in the West, as the last of the moderate and locally heavy movements occurred in the East. Species on the move this week included Ruddy Turnstone, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-bellied and Alder Flycatchers, and Gray-cheeked Thrush. Note that our colleagues at University of Wyoming experienced some problems with […]  Read more...

Continental: With peak migration of many species past, this week will see diminish but still evident light movements in the West, while the East continues to see increasingly scattered late season moderate to isolated heavy movements. Birds on the move this week will include late season shorebirds including Red Knot and White-rumped Sandpiper, Alder and […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Primarily light movements occurred in the West as the clock on this season’s migration continued to wind down, while moderate to locally heavy movements continued in a number of areas East of the Rockies. Birds on the move this week included Ruddy Turnstone, Olive-sided, Willow and Alder Flycatchers, Cedar Waxwing, and Mourning and […]  Read more...

Continental: Light to moderate movements continue in many portions of the West, as moderate to heavy movements shift increasingly farther North in the East in areas away from precipitation. Heavy movements in the southern US will begin to wane over the course of this week and next as we near the end of another migration […]  Read more...

Continental: Generally favorable conditions across much of the West brought continuing light to moderate movements, but the parade of fronts across the East brought widely varying size and distribution of movements in conditions changing rapidly from day to day. Species on the move this week included Veery, Gray Catbird, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided and Blackpoll […]  Read more...

Continental: Continued light to moderate movements are again the norm for the West away from areas of precipitation, as the East waits to experience moderate to heavy movements in many areas until the middle of the week. Birds on the move this week will include Willow Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Magnolia, Canada, Wilson’s, Blackpoll, and Bay-breasted […]  Read more...

Continental: Light to moderate movements across much of the West exemplified more of the steady push of birds into the region, while the East received a jolt of birds midweek, including some movements into the Northeast after many days with a trickle. Birds on the move this week included Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, […]  Read more...

Continental: Unsettled weather across the West and the East complicates the migration scene this week, with light to moderate movements apparent in the West and moderate to heavy movements in the East away from rain. Numerous species are on the move this week, including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Least Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, American Redstart, Yellow, Magnolia, Blackburnian, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Light to moderate movements were widespread in the West, while the movements in the East continued to run the gamut from nonexistent to heavy in a wide range of weather conditions. Birds on the move this week included Warbling Vireo, House Wren, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, and Baltimore Oriole. West Light to moderate […]  Read more...

Team Sapsucker made North American birding history on 25 April 2013, recording 294 species in a single, midnight-to-midnight day. More details are available here, but, briefly, the Sapsuckers pulled off a near perfect big day run because of a unique combination of the team’s skills, excellent scouting from Tom Johnson, Andy Guthrie, and Matt Hafner, assistance […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: The West will experience light to moderate movements for the entire period in generally favorable conditions for migration, whereas conditions in the East are forecast to be complex but favorable for moderate to heavy movements in many areas and fallouts along the Gulf Coast. Birds on the move this week include Least Flycatcher, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Increasingly widespread light to moderate movements occurred across the West this past week, as the East experienced two pulses of light to moderate and locally heavy movements between strong frontal systems. Birds on the move included Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, and Yellow Warbler. West Light to moderate movements were in evidence in many […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Light to moderate movements continue in the West amidst some scattered mountain precipitation, while the East has moderate to heavy movements and fallout potential interspersed between strong spring storm systems and the marginal to unfavorable conditions that trail them. Birds on the move this week include Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: Light to moderate movements occurred across the West, particularly early in the forecast period in California and the Desert Southwest, while a complex stalled front brought light to moderate and even locally heavy movements to many different areas of the East. Species on the move this week included numerous shorebirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, numerous […]  Read more...

As forecast last week on the BirdCast site, a strong frontal boundary is moving East across the US. The high resolution image below, which is very large (!), shows light to moderate movements of inbound trans-Gulf migrants off the Texas coast (uniform and stippled pattern of blues) and an approaching cold front with strong storms […]  Read more...

Continental Summary: The West sees continued light to moderate movements and new arrivals in the deserts and California, while pulses of moderate and heavy movements of new trans-Gulf and circum-Gulf arrivals appear among strong passing storms. On the move this week will be Spotted Sandpiper, Chimney Swift, Wood Thrush, House Wren, Yellow Warbler, Indigo Bunting, […]  Read more...