News: Uncategorized

As one might expect near the peak of spring migration diversity and abundance, this week saw nights with moderate to heavy migration across many areas of the continental US. In fact, higher than expected migration amounts occurred on several nights during the forecast period in multiple different portions of the region. Although we could easily […]  Read more...

As several low pressure centers and their associated precipitation progress across the country, migration levels will vary more than usual. Primarily light to moderate movements will occur across more southerly portions of the West, whereas precipitation and generally unfavorable winds aloft will keep most migrants in more northerly portions grounded. Although a few areas of […]  Read more...

Late April and early May is peak migration for many of the more southerly sections of the United States, with the northern states and southern Canadian provinces seeing peak movements during the second and third weeks of May. By late April, the latest-arriving migrants in Texas and Florida should be making their first appearances, and […]  Read more...

While most of Team eBird is down in Texas making Big Day history, I,David La Puma, have been charged with filling in for them in writing this week’s migration forecast. In doing so, I have also called upon a team of migration experts from across the country to weigh in on the regional components of […]  Read more...

This was an exciting week in spring migration as things really began to ramp up on a continental scale. The West saw significant movement throughout the region with a consistent flow of birds from the south, and some of the heaviest migration to date for the Pacific Northwest. After a slow start during the weekend, […]  Read more...

This week saw widespread arrivals of a diversity of species in many areas–far too many to mention in full. In general, most Neotropical migrants have now reached the southern U.S. A few very late species such as Willow Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and western Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Common Nighthawks, are still well to the south of […]  Read more...

We will step through last week’s BirdCast forecast to see how it did with predicting the bird movements and species arrivals. The overall pattern has been of continued decent conditions for movement through the mid-continent, but northerly winds and cooler temperatures have essentially put a cork in the migration in the eastern third of the country. As […]  Read more...

After an amazingly early start to spring migration across much of the eastern two-thirds of North America, we expect migration to return to a more typical schedule this week. Arrival dates should be only slightly ahead of average through the remainder of this week. The period will start with high pressure across much of the U.S.. This […]  Read more...

Last week’s BirdCast forecast made a couple predictions about fallouts that we focus on this week. These include a widespread waterfowl fallout in the Northeast, which we discuss in some depth to help eBirders prepare for similar events in the future. Along the same lines, last week’s mention of possible passerine fallouts on the Gulf Coast also […]  Read more...

Conditions across much of the West look favorable for light migration to occur during the course of the forecast period, particularly toward the end of the week. The distinct exception is the Pacific Northwest, which is again forecast to receive more precipitation that will hinder significant landbird movements. The Great Plains will experience a distinct […]  Read more...

Last week’s BirdCast forecast predicted a slower week of migration, as weather in the East and Midwest turned cooler with northerly and westerly flow that would be less conducive to migration. Despite a record-early spring for many species to date, we predicted that the surge of early migrants would slow to a trickle during this week across […]  Read more...

Check out last week’s forecast, then read on to see how we did! Last week’s BirdCast predicted another week of widespread migration and record early arrivals across the continent. The unsettled weather predicted to reach the mid-continent in mid-week prompted a mid-week alert about a coastal fallout on the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to […]  Read more...

A strong frontal boundary is currently moving east toward the Mississippi valley, having passed over the Texas coast and portions of Louisiana. This boundary is spawning strong storms and areas of precipitation (some of which is intense). Its passage coincided with a light migration of trans-Gulf migrants coming ashore (indicated by radar), at least along parts […]  Read more...

Since the first units were placed along the Gulf Coast in the 1950s, ornithologists and birders have become increasingly aware of the power of using radar as a tool for understanding bird migration. In addition to detecting and depicting meteorological phenomena, this radar network can be used to watch and to track the movements of […]  Read more...

Refresh your memory with last week’s BirdCast, then read on to see how we did. There was light migration in the mid-continent over the weekend, but building high pressure caused some very large nights of migration by mid-week on 13-14 March and 14-15 March. The radar imagery displayed here corroborated the arrivals of birds seen […]  Read more...

Expect a progression of good migration conditions very similar to last week’s. Conditions for bird migration will be favorable east of the Rockies and on the Great Plains over the weekend. By Monday and Tuesday these conditions make for good migration in the Midwest and by the middle and latter half of next week, warm […]  Read more...

Watch for favorable migration conditions progressing eastward this week, affecting the Great Plains Monday and Tuesday and the Midwest and possibly East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday. A cold front approaching the West Coast will bring strong winds to the region on Tuesday. See animated wind maps for the week. This week’s weather will feature a […]  Read more...

Check out last week’s forecast, then read on to see how we did! Although it is still February, when bird migration can be expected to be minimal overall, the predictions for 25-26 Feb 2012 were borne out by observations on the ground. Thanks to all those who report regularly to eBird from the Great Plains […]  Read more...

Watch for a good migration of birds up through the Great Plains on Saturday night (25 Feb 2012) and Sunday (26 Feb 2012). As the weakening storm moves eastward, we can probably expect some bird movement through the Great Lakes and maybe even the Northeast on Monday and Monday night, but it is not likely to […]  Read more...