News: Forecast and Analysis

Continental Summary A patchwork of conditions in the West brings mostly scattered light to moderate movements over the forecast period, while a wild week of moderate to heavy movements and the potential for fallouts scattered among precipitation and severe weather comes to the East. Species on the move this week will include Ruddy Turnstone, Stilt […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Moderate movements early in the period in the Desert Southwest and widespread moderate and heavy movements nearly throughout the period in some areas of the East highlighted an active week for migrants. Species on the move this week included Spotted Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Black Tern, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Western Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary A busy early week of movements in the West shuts down by week’s end, while widespread favorable conditions arrive by mid to late week in the East and spawn moderate to heavy movements in many areas. Species on the move this week will include Swainson’s Thrush, Least Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Moderate to heavy movement from the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast in the early part of the period gave way to generally light movement across much of the country towards the end of the week. Species on the move included Spotted Sandpiper, Western Tanager, Yellow Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Bobolink, Mississippi […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Widespread light to moderate movements early in the weekend are shut down by two consecutive disturbances in the West, while the arrival of these same disturbances in the East brings a patchwork of moderate to locally heavy movements to the latter portion of the week. Species on the move this week will include […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Widespread light to moderate movements occurred early in the period in the West, while a major pulse of moderate to heavy movements occurred late in the week in the Southeast. Species on the move this week included Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Wilson’s Phalarope, Chimney Swift, Warbling Vireo, House Wren, a suite of warblers, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Pulses of movements will track the advance of several low pressure systems across the continent this week, with those system producing light to moderate movements in the West and moderate to heavy movements in the East. Species on the move this week will include Spotted Sandpiper, Wilson’s Phalarope, Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling and […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Light to moderate movements in the West were most evident in the Desert Southwest and California, while strong low pressure passing through the East brought unseasonably cold and unfavorable conditions and kept most moderate movements sparse in space and time. Species on the move this week included White-faced Ibis, Chimney and Vaux’s Swifts, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Scattered light to moderate movements that begin the weekend give way to much more widespread movements to end the period in the West, while moderate to heavy movements will occur in many areas of the East as low pressure organizes and moves off the coast (and begets more Gulf Coast fall outs). Species […]  Read more...

Continental Summary A nice pulse of moderate movements early to midweek in the West contrasted a pattern of late week moderate to locally heavy movements in the East. Species on the move this week included Hooded Merganser, Horned and Red-necked Grebes, Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks, Ring-billed and California Gulls, Chimney Swift, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Scattered light to moderate movements expand across the region by early week in the West, fallouts spread east from the Texas coast from the weekend through early week as a cold front stalls in the Gulf of Mexico, and the East sees a big pulse of migrants to end the forecast period. Species […]  Read more...

Continental Summary A mostly quiet West experienced scattered light to moderate movements, primarily in California and the Desert Southwest, while several disturbances in the East scattered light to moderate movements across the few favorable periods of the week. Species on the move this week included Osprey, Swainson’s Hawk, Franklin’s Gull, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern and […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Several widespread light to moderate flights color this forecast period in the West, while a pulse of favorable conditions that produces weekend flights in the Plains and early week flights in the East eventually gives way to a strong cold front that spawns fallouts and shuts down the whole system to end the […]  Read more...

Continental Summary The West experienced scattered light to moderate movements as mostly unfavorable conditions for larger and more widespread flights did not materialize; the East saw pulses of light to moderate migration bracketing the forecast period. Species on the move this week included Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Light to moderate movements were widely scattered across the southern portions of the West this week, while scattered light to moderate movements highlighted an otherwise uneventful week of migration pulses in the East. Species on the move this week included Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged and […]  Read more...

Continental Summary A widespread movement in the West on Tuesday night will be followed by a similarly large-scale movement in the East on Thursday night. Species on the move this week will include Blue-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Common Goldeneye, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Swainson’s and Broad-winged Hawks, Ring-billed Gull, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Tree, Northern Rough-winged, Cliff, and Barn […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Widely scattered light to locally moderate movements occurred in the West, while the East experienced widespread light to moderate and locally heavy movements early in the week.  Species on the move this week included Canada Goose, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Eastern Phoebe, Black-and-white and Lucy’s […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Marginal conditions that begin the period in the West become more favorable for increasingly widespread light to moderate movements over the course of the forecast period, while the East experiences several bouts of favorable winds and warming temperatures the kickstart movements to begin the weekend and the week. Species on the move this […]  Read more...

Continental Summary Light to moderate movements begin across the country this week, punctuated with some heavier movements in the Great Plains, in particular, as large numbers of waterbirds depart their winter haunts. Species on the move this week will include Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Barn Swallow, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, and Song Sparrow. West Marginal to […]  Read more...

This is the final forecast and analysis report for the Fall 2013 season. Please continue to visit BirdCast.info for updates and commentary on noteworthy movements of birds during the coming months, and look for weekly forecasts to resume on 1 March 2014. Continental Summary: Diminishing returns aside (no pun intended), the West saw local light […]  Read more...