News

Spend your spooky Halloween evenings safely enjoying late season bird migration. For the intrepid with no aversion to long nights outside in cold temperatures, direct your optics to the face of the Micro Blue Moon to watch birds pass!  Read more...

Hurricane Zeta is powering toward the Louisiana coast, predicted to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon. This storm will certainly entrain Gulf of Mexico seabirds, as well as displacing some nearer shore species inland and dropping overland migrants. Given the storm's arrival time, predicted track and speed, birders from the Louisiana coast to Cape May, NJ should keep safe, socially distanced, and watchful eyes on all bodies of water and your favorite birding patches.  Read more...

Central Texas birders, drop what you are doing, distance yourselves from others, and go birding! Radars in the area are currently detecting what may be streaming raptors. Tell us what you find!  Read more...

Birders in eastern North America should keep their eyes open, especially in coastal and lakeshore locations, for Cave Swallows this weekend and in the weeks to come. The passage of a strong weather systems, like the cold front moving through the northeastern US today, hearkens the start of a period during which this species can occur, occasionally in significant numbers, far outside of its typical southern ranges.  Read more...

Easterly flow in the North Atlantic has the potential to bring European species into northeastern North America in the coming days. Marginal to favorable conditions for such displacement are predicted for the coming days, so birders should watch their favorite patches closely.  Read more...

More than 400 million birds will take flight tonight across the contiguous US tonight, highlighted by large flights in the south central US. Tonight will be one of the last very large flights of the autumn, with a diverse array of species on the move.  Read more...

Hurricane Delta is a powerful storm predicted to make landfall late on Friday on the Louisiana coast. Gulf of Mexico seabirds, as well as some nearer shore species and overland migrants, will be associated with the arrival and passage of the storm as it moves inland to the north and east.  Read more...

BirdCast is thrilled to announce a public service announcement from former First Lady Laura Bush and a proclamation from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson about the Lights Out Texas initiative to protect nocturnally migrating birds from the hazards of light pollution!  Read more...

More than half a billion birds will take flight tonight across the contiguous US tonight! The BirdCast model is predicting intense migration in many areas of the central and southeastern US in the wake of a passing cold front.  Read more...

The BirdCast model is predicting high intensity migration this evening, with more than half a billion birds on the move! And there will be additional, similarly large flights, in the coming nights! This will likely represent one of the largest series of migration nights of the year in the contiguous US.  Read more...

At this point you have heard the stories for the west about bird mortality, but perhaps you have not heard the stories about species on the move out of the mountains. BirdCast will feature evolving stories about eruptions from higher elevations, and this week we highlight Mountain Chickadee.  Read more...

Hurricane Teddy is arriving soon in Atlantic Canada. A significant diversity of tropical seabirds may arrive with it in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and possibly even Greenland.  Read more...

Beta is currently a tropical storm, deteriorating to a tropical depression in the next 36-48 hours. Storm birds will be apparent on the Upper Texas coast from Monday through Wednesday, whereas areas further inland into southwestern and central Louisiana may experience some impacts by Thursday.  Read more...

Strong northeasterly winds in the western North Atlantic may hearken the arrival of small (very small) numbers of Northern Wheatears in eastern North America. Several have been reported in the last days, will more arrive soon?  Read more...

Enormous, and growing, numbers of dead birds discovered in the southern Rockies over the past few weeks have alarmed scientists, conservationists, and advocates alike. The massive mortality events may be a result of intense fires in the western US and the smoke that they have produced.  Read more...

Yes, you read the title right— WHITE-breasted Nuthatches! Long overlooked as a humble resident of forests and feeders across North America, the *other* migrating nuthatch is finally getting deserved recognition for its irruptive travels.  Read more...

We estimate that more than half a billion birds will take flight tonight from the contiguous US, spanning the central portion of the country from Canada to Mexico.  Read more...

The active week for tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean Basin continues, with Hurricane Sally making landfall on the Gulf of Mexico coast. A suite of species like Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern, Magnificent Frigatebird, and Brown Noddy is possible at the immediate coast and well inland. Watch live tracking of bird observations after Sally's landfall.  Read more...

The BirdCast model is predicting high intensity migration for the night of 14 September 2020. We estimate that 405 million birds will take flight tonight across the lower 48, including 50 million birds in the northeast alone. This will likely represent one of the largest migration nights of the year in this region.  Read more...

High intensity migration and evolving tropical systems are on deck for this week. We estimate movements 400-500 million birds on each of the coming nights over the continental US. Plus, a very active Atlantic Ocean Basin has a number of tropical systems of the move, entraining and displacing a diversity of birds in the Gulf of Mexico region and Bermuda.  Read more...