News: Migration

We are nearing the window of peak migration through the US, and many species are on the move!  Read more...

Medium to high intensity migration spanned the latitudinal breadth of the central US last night.  Read more...

Peak migration periods in many areas of the contiguous US are approaching, and we can visualize the approaching waves of migrants in space and time.  Read more...

A line of intense storms approaching the western Gulf Coast will make for interesting and challenging conditions for inbound trans-Gulf migrants. The strength and the timing of frontal passage, as well as its projected extent over water, suggest potential for larger fallouts farther south and west along the coast, in addition to those fallouts that […]  Read more...

Team BirdCast has not spent much time highlighting the center of the continent this spring, so we would like to take a moment to rectify this!  Read more...

In the early morning hours of 30 April, a strong frontal boundary is moving toward the Atlantic. This front has strong storms with intense precipitation, and in advance of its passage favorable winds for bird migration.  Read more...

As of approximately 3pm Central Daylight Time, some intense thunderstorms are about to interact with an inbound trans-Gulf migration event.  Read more...

An exciting migration event unfolded yesterday morning and this morning in Southern California, as many thousands of birds continued their nocturnal movements well into the first hours of day light.  Read more...

As of 20 April 2020 the BirdCast live migration maps switched color palettes to match migration forecast maps. The new color palette is more suitable for viewers with green-, red-, or blue-color blindness, and is perceptually uniform in color and black-and-white (see this interesting talk by the designers of this so-called "viridis" color scale).  Read more...

This update focuses on the migration activity in the West where several nights of significant movements were apparent recently.  Read more...

A brief migration update - another frontal boundary has started to move into the Gulf of Mexico region , and there are a number of interesting events to share this evening with its passage.  Read more...

We updated the color scheme of migration forecast maps on 13 April 2020 to add more contrast to the palette that makes visually impaired viewing easier.  Read more...

A frontal boundary is approaching the Gulf of Mexico region, likely moving over water late on Thursday evening. Fallouts and concentrations of migrating birds are likely along the Gulf of Mexico coast for several days.  Read more...

Spring migration is now in full effect in many areas, with the beginnings of some peak windows of passage approaching for the southern latitudes of the US in the coming two weeks! Light to medium intensity movements will occur in the eastern and southern US.  Read more...

Many species are on the move as we officially cross the vernal equinox threshold into the realm of Northern Hemisphere spring.  Read more...

Spring migration is well underway for a number of species, and the tables below highlight species you can expect in your regions over the coming week!  Read more...

BirdCast returns with some species on the move discussions for spring 2020! Killdeer is a familiar and hardy shorebird with a generally high tolerance for human habitation and landscapes, and the earliest migrants of this species have been on the move in recent weeks.  Read more...

A tweet from the National Weather Service in Key West showing bird migration over the Florida Keys went viral, spread and has now been covered extensively by social and news media outlets. Team BirdCast adds some comments and color!  Read more...

Team BirdCast has been analyzing radar data with our group of talented collaborators, and today we published a new study on shifting patterns of nocturnal bird migration and how dynamic these patterns can be spatially.  Read more...

A study published today in the journal Science reveals that the volume of spring migration, as measured by the NEXRAD radar network in the night skies, has dropped by 14 percent in the past decade. The paper further compiles bird survey data collected on the ground, indicating that bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent since 1970, representing a loss of almost 3 billion birds.   Read more...