Light to moderate flights, primarily in the Desert Southwest and the eastern Rockies, were the highlights of the week in the West and featured Wilson’s Phalarope, Vaux’s Swift, Western Wood-Pewee, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Summer Tanager, Western Tanager, and Lark Sparrow, while moderate to heavy flights featuring Mississippi Kite, Willet, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Western Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel, and Baltimore Oriole were extensive in many areas of the East.
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Light to moderate movements on the fringes of the region on Friday night gradually intensified and became more extensive by Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. However, a quickly passing cold front shut down most movements by Tuesday night, with the exception of light flights in the Upper Midwest an locally moderate and heavy flights in Virginia. Similarly scattered flights occurred for the remainder of the period, largely distributed in areas where precipitation did not shut down movements and winds were slightly more favorable than forecast. This pattern of movements was particularly evident in the Ohio River Valley.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Baltimore Oriole
2267%
7.5
Yellow Warbler
393%
17.3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
3426%
7.9
Gray Catbird
703%
18.9
Nashville Warbler
1144%
5
Wood Thrush
375%
8.4
Northern Waterthrush
389%
5.8
Warbling Vireo
503%
8.1
Indigo Bunting
674%
5.8
Black-throated Green Warbler
416%
5.9
Blue-winged Warbler
467%
5.3
Common Yellowthroat
183%
13.3
Orchard Oriole
380%
4.8
Black-and-white Warbler
196%
11.3
House Wren
124%
20.2
Chimney Swift
135%
11.2
Great Crested Flycatcher
631%
4.1
Black-throated Blue Warbler
2774%
2.3
Scarlet Tanager
322%
4.5
Red-eyed Vireo
204%
6.3
Ovenbird
207%
8.6
Swainson's Thrush
1937%
2.3
Spotted Sandpiper
160%
8.2
Eastern Kingbird
206%
5.9
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Golden-crowned Kinglet
-59%
1.3
Dark-eyed Junco
-47%
6.7
Bufflehead
-46%
3.6
Northern Shoveler
-47%
2.7
American Tree Sparrow
-63%
0.9
Brown Creeper
-45%
2.4
Ring-necked Duck
-51%
2
American Coot
-37%
4.6
Green-winged Teal
-40%
3.1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-33%
4.2
Lesser Scaup
-46%
1.5
Wilson's Snipe
-41%
2.4
Fox Sparrow
-53%
0.3
Blue-winged Teal
-30%
6.8
Ruddy Duck
-38%
1.9
American Wigeon
-54%
0.7
Pied-billed Grebe
-27%
4.1
Red-breasted Merganser
-35%
2.3
Northern Gannet
-71%
0.1
Gadwall
-37%
1.9
Rusty Blackbird
-33%
2.3
Sandhill Crane
-33%
3.4
Horned Grebe
-32%
1
Great Crested Flycatcher. Charles Lyon/Macaulay Library. 24 Apr 2016. eBird S29213262
Gulf Coast and Southeast
Moderate to heavy movements were aloft primarily west of the Mississippi River on Friday and Saturday nights in advance of a more widespread regional moderate to heavy flight on Sunday. Similar intensity and extent continued on Monday and Tuesday nights. An approaching cold front arrived on Wednesday, but its effects were limited as it became disorganized upon approach to the Gulf Coast; moderate and locally heavy flights continued in many areas. The period ended with primarily moderate flights west of the Mississippi River and more locally intense flights in the coastal Carolinas, Georgia, and portions of the Florida Peninsula.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Mississippi Kite
252%
5.8
Yellow Warbler
88%
8.3
Dickcissel
97%
4.7
Magnolia Warbler
91%
4
Bay-breasted Warbler
225%
1.3
Bobolink
93%
2.1
Great Crested Flycatcher
31%
25.4
Western Kingbird
49%
4.5
Least Flycatcher
137%
1.2
Yellow-breasted Chat
42%
5.6
Chestnut-sided Warbler
46%
4.6
Chimney Swift
25%
19.5
Painted Bunting
33%
9.2
Acadian Flycatcher
41%
3.6
White-rumped Sandpiper
89%
0.7
Groove-billed Ani
454%
0.4
Eastern Wood-Pewee
25%
7.6
American Redstart
28%
10
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
29%
9.2
Red-eyed Vireo
21%
19.7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
17%
11.4
Eastern Kingbird
21%
14.7
Canada Warbler
57%
0.8
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
-52%
4.1
Worm-eating Warbler
-50%
3.1
White-throated Sparrow
-35%
8.6
Swamp Sparrow
-48%
1.5
Caspian Tern
-47%
1.6
Pied-billed Grebe
-40%
3.6
Merlin
-62%
0.6
Blue-winged Teal
-30%
7.7
Marbled Godwit
-59%
0.6
Forster's Tern
-35%
4
Blue-winged Warbler
-41%
2
Sedge Wren
-61%
0.5
Brown Pelican
-29%
9.1
Belted Kingfisher
-32%
4.2
Hermit Thrush
-65%
0.4
Orange-crowned Warbler
-47%
1.2
Prairie Warbler
-32%
4.9
Sora
-35%
2.4
Royal Tern
-31%
5.2
Marsh Wren
-36%
2.3
Yellow-headed Blackbird
-57%
0.7
Palm Warbler
-29%
6.4
Lincoln's Sparrow
-33%
2.3
Northern Shoveler
-45%
1.3
Blue Grosbeak. Clancy Deel/Macaulay Library. 27 Apr 2016. eBird S29242817
Great Plains
Moderate to locally heavy flights spanned the region on Friday and Saturday nights but generally came to a quick end on Sunday with the passage of a strong frontal boundary; some light to moderate flights lingered in the southern Plains. A return of moderate flights to the central and southern Plains on Monday night was also a flash in the pan, as intense storms associated with another frontal boundary shut down the system on Tuesday. The remainder of the period saw scattered light to locally moderate flights in the northern and southern extremes of the region, as conditions for widespread flights were not favorable.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Baltimore Oriole
430%
17.3
Great Crested Flycatcher
912%
10.2
Western Kingbird
560%
10.5
Swainson's Thrush
419%
11.9
Nashville Warbler
1063%
9.8
Indigo Bunting
706%
9.3
Dickcissel
830%
5.6
Yellow Warbler
12174%
5.8
Eastern Kingbird
235%
15.7
Clay-colored Sparrow
387%
6
Gray Catbird
1515%
4.4
Red-eyed Vireo
223%
8.3
Warbling Vireo
136%
9.9
House Wren
110%
14.7
Tennessee Warbler
1797%
2.9
Summer Tanager
276%
5.9
Orchard Oriole
504%
3.7
Willet
164%
7
Black-and-white Warbler
241%
6.4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
336%
5.2
Blue Grosbeak
4919%
2.7
Orange-crowned Warbler
64%
14.1
Palm Warbler
328%
2.7
Bell's Vireo
-710%
1.9
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
2224%
1.7
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Dark-eyed Junco
-77%
1.2
Wilson's Snipe
-63%
1.8
Fox Sparrow
-96%
0.1
Ring-necked Duck
-62%
2.1
Gadwall
-40%
8.3
Northern Shoveler
-31%
15.9
Western Meadowlark
-37%
11.7
American Coot
-30%
16.8
Green-winged Teal
-37%
5.4
American Wigeon
-42%
3.7
Say's Phoebe
-67%
0.7
Bufflehead
-47%
2.5
Brown Creeper
-70%
0.5
Lesser Scaup
-39%
4.1
Northern Harrier
-40%
3.2
Greater Roadrunner
-59%
0.6
Vesper Sparrow
-35%
4.2
Pied-billed Grebe
-23%
10.3
Double-crested Cormorant
-18%
15.8
Rock Wren
-73%
0.1
Ruddy Duck
-28%
5.9
California Gull
-67%
0.2
Mallard
-12%
28
Western Wood-Pewee. Jeff Bray/Macaulay Library. 25 Apr 2016. eBird S29199517
West
Scattered precipitation kept most movements of migrants similarly scattered and light for the first days of the period. Note, however, the moderate flights occurring east of the Rockies on Friday night. Tuesday night saw the first more intense flight, primarily in California and the Desert Southwest, where light to moderate movements were underway. But these flights never reached greater intensity or extent elsewhere in the region during the period, as conditions for migration remained generally marginal or unfavorable. There were, however, light to moderate flights in portions of Montana and the southern Rockies to end the work week.