News: Migration

Scattered and local light to moderate flights begin and end the period in the West and feature White-winged Scoter, Common Loon, Western Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Dunlin, Marsh Wren, and White-throated Sparrow, moderate to heavy flights begin and end the period in the East and feature American Wigeon, Surf Scoter, Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Harrier, Sandhill Crane, Dunlin, Sedge Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Pine Siskin.  Read more...

Scattered light to moderate flights were the later period highlights in the West, while moderate to very heavy flights graced the later period in the East.  Read more...

Favorable migration conditions in the West will be localized and mostly occur at the end of the forecast period, when light to moderate movements, mostly in the northern reaches of the region, will feature Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Varied Thrush and American Pipit; meanwhile, the East will see a major frontal passage and arrival of cooler air that will usher moderate to very heavy movements to the region that feature Ruddy Duck, Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Northern Harrier, Sandhill Crane, Belted Kingfisher, American Kestrel, House Wren, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin, and Purple Finch.  Read more...

The week of 13-20 October 2016 has so far featured some large movements on 13, 14, and 19 October. This movements have been primarily to the south-southwest and southwest.  Read more...

Favorable migration conditions do not arrive in the West until mid period, bringing light to moderate flights of Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Flicker, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Meadowlark, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco, while a warming trend in the East yields to more typical fall conditions featuring moderate to heavy movements of Pied-billed Grebe, Franklin's Gull, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Eastern Bluebird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-winged Blackbird, White-throated Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.  Read more...

Locally light and moderate flights featuring Cackling Goose, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, White-winged Scoter, Ferruginous Hawk, Dunlin, Merlin, White-throated Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow punctuated the migration scene in the West during this period, while an early and late pulse of moderate and heavy movements featuring Pied-billed Grebe, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Pipit, Marsh Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow, Le Conte's Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco graced the East.  Read more...

Favorable conditions for migration come to the West from Sunday to Thursday bringing light to moderate flights of Eared Grebe, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Say's Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Meadowlark, Golden-crowned Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow, while a patchwork of favorable and unfavorable conditions for migration including the arrival of a tropical system bring similarly patchy moderate to heavy movements featuring Pied-billed Grebe, Franklin's Gull, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Gray Catbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Nashville Warbler, and Lincoln's Sparrow to the East.  Read more...

Widespread light to moderate movements dominated the first half of the forecast period in the West and featured Cackling Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Dunlin, Varied Thrush, Hermit Thrush, American Pipit, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Palm Warbler, Golden-crowned Sparrow, while pulses of moderate to very heavy flights graced the East and featured Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Sprague's Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler, Rusty Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.  Read more...

Favorable conditions for widespread light to moderate migration featuring Greater White-fronted Goose, Northern Shoveler, Eared Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Townsend's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrow come to the West during the first half of the forecast period, while the East experiences several bouts of favorable migration conditions with moderate to locally very heavy flights of Pied-billed Grebe, Turkey Vulture, Franklin's Gull, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Tennessee Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow.  Read more...

Moderate to heavy movements were the norm for the East this period, featuring Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Ruby-crownd Kinglet, Rusty Blackbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Harris's Sparrow, and Nelson's Sparrow, while the West experienced moderate movements primarily early in the forecast period that featured Cackling Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Hooded Merganser, Dunlin, Herring Gull, Varied Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Golden-crowned Sparrow.  Read more...

Marginal and locally favorable migration conditions early in the period eventually yield to slightly more widespread favorable migration conditions, featuring Northern Shoveler, Eared Grebe, Belted Kingfisher, Orange-crowned Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow in the West and Bald Eagle, Chimney Swift, Northern Flicker, Merlin, Blue-headed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Magnolia Warbler, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Wilson's Warbler in the East.  Read more...

Moderate and even locally heavy flights featuring Sandhill Crane, Dunlin, Merlin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, White-crowned Sparrow, and Golden-crowned Sparrow punctuated this period in the West, while moderate to heavy flights of Broad-winged Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Magnolia Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Palm Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Purple Finch occurred in the East following the passage of a significant cold front.  Read more...

Welcome to this installment of BirdCast Traffic Reports, posts describing northeastern 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. Nightly Loops 1 September 2016 A large […]  Read more...

Favorable conditions for moderate movements featuring Northern Shoveler, Eared Grebe, Belted Kingfisher, Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Savannah Sparrow highlight the beginning and end of the work week in the West, while the East experiences two pulses of moderate to heavy flights over the weekend and in the middle of the work week featuring Blue-winged Teal, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Redstart, and Chestnut-sided Warbler.  Read more...

Moderate to heavy flights were peppered across the nation and featured Sharp-shinned Hawk, Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Northern Parula, Orange-crowned Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco during this past forecast period, with more widespread and regional movements generally limited by a few extreme weather events in the Desert Southwest and the Atlantic Seaboard.  Read more...

Marginal migration conditions begin the period, give way to more widespread flights to end the week in the West, and feature Northern Shoveler, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, and Western Tanager, while favorable conditions kicking off the period in the East in many areas of the East, featuring Blue-winged Teal, Bald Eagle, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Merlin, Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler, give way to increasingly unfavorable conditions in part due to a decaying Hermine.  Read more...

A busy week of migration across the nation featured light to moderate movements in the West and moderate to heavy flights in the East, with Northern Pintail, Caspian Tern, Swanson's Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, and Lincoln's Sparrow on the move.  Read more...

Welcome to this installment of BirdCast Traffic Reports, posts describing northeastern 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 […]  Read more...

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 period, with a particular focus in our case on radar reflectivity products representing the magnitude of targets (whether meteorological, like rain and hail, or biological, like birds, bats, and insects) at a given radar. A pipeline of algorithms extracts information from these radar data about birds, and the resulting bird-specific summary imagery is published daily in early afternoon eastern time (give or take).  Read more...

Locally favorable migration conditions increase in extent over the course of the work week in the East and feature Common Nighthawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler, and Northern Waterthrush, while conditions in the west remain largely marginal for migration, with locally favorable patches featuring movements of Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, and Western Tanager.  Read more...