Rusty Blackbird. Lisa Cancade Hackett/Macaulay Library. eBird S31641571
Continental Summary
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.
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Moderate to heavy movements kicked off the period in the Midwest, while the remainder of the region was mostly quiet. But Monday night saw more widespread moderate flights as more favorable conditions for migration spread across the region. This intensity of movement continued, but became increasingly restricted to the Appalachians and Atlantic Coast by Wednesday night as a significant disturbance moved through the Upper Midwest. With unsettled weather still spread across the region, the period ended with a similar spread variety of migration intensities, the highest of which were in the Upper Midwest and mid Atlantic states.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Yellow-rumped Warbler
110%
10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
108%
3.4
Blue-headed Vireo
66%
3.9
White-throated Sparrow
53%
5.6
Lincoln's Sparrow
65%
3.1
Palm Warbler
48%
10.7
Swamp Sparrow
47%
4.6
American Pipit
71%
1.8
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
51%
3.3
White-crowned Sparrow
245%
0.6
Eastern Phoebe
20%
24.1
Gray-cheeked Thrush
41%
2.4
Savannah Sparrow
34%
4
Rusty Blackbird
195%
0.4
Blackpoll Warbler
23%
7.4
Ruddy Duck
90%
0.8
Sora
84%
0.8
Lapland Longspur
331%
0.2
Long-billed Dowitcher
78%
0.7
Parasitic Jaeger
77%
0.7
Eastern Bluebird
14%
12.3
Northern Flicker
12%
34
Brown Thrasher
20%
7.3
Song Sparrow
14%
26.2
Nelson's Sparrow
168%
0.3
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Warbling Vireo
-65%
2.1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
-64%
1.4
Great Crested Flycatcher
-65%
1.1
Barn Swallow
-61%
2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
-35%
12.7
Blue-winged Warbler
-69%
0.3
Forster's Tern
-44%
2.1
Black Tern
-79%
0.1
Chestnut-sided Warbler
-34%
4.2
Eastern Wood-Pewee
-23%
11.8
Black Skimmer
-70%
0.2
Canada Warbler
-59%
0.4
Common Tern
-43%
1.4
Semipalmated Sandpiper
-37%
2.9
Yellow-throated Vireo
-34%
2.6
Semipalmated Plover
-33%
3.7
Least Sandpiper
-28%
5.6
Eastern Kingbird
-69%
0.4
Red-necked Phalarope
-85%
0
Sanderling
-31%
2.7
Veery
-40%
1.1
Baltimore Oriole
-50%
1
Least Flycatcher
-36%
1.6
Green Heron
-23%
5.8
Gray-cheeked Thrush. Marion Miller/Macaulay Library. eBird S31642811
Gulf Coast and Southeast
Increasing but still scattered light to moderate flights started the period. But with the arrival of more favorable migration conditions on Sunday and Monday nights, more intense movements took flight including heavy to very heavy movements between the Mississippi River Valley and the southern Appalachians. Following these large movements intensities waned, despite maintaining their more regional extents, for the remainder of the work week. Generally, the southern Appalachians continued to be the most active areas to end the period.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
307%
5.4
Palm Warbler
184%
5.1
Swainson's Thrush
109%
7.1
Gray-cheeked Thrush
210%
1.7
Magnolia Warbler
41%
8.7
Common Yellowthroat
30%
13.5
Gray Catbird
35%
11.3
Philadelphia Vireo
164%
1.2
Tennessee Warbler
44%
5.2
Wood Thrush
81%
2.9
Seaside Sparrow
144%
0.8
Song Sparrow
42%
4.3
American Redstart
19%
17
Merlin
49%
2
Scarlet Tanager
29%
5
Blue-headed Vireo
48%
1.9
Bay-breasted Warbler
71%
0.8
Brown Thrasher
17%
17.9
Northern Flicker
19%
7.8
Sharp-shinned Hawk
46%
1.7
Red-breasted Nuthatch
37%
1.4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
66%
0.5
Eastern Bluebird
13%
17.8
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Common Nighthawk
-62%
1.1
Black Tern
-72%
0.4
Eastern Kingbird
-48%
3.4
Baltimore Oriole
-42%
3.8
Great Crested Flycatcher
-32%
4.5
Olive-sided Flycatcher
-64%
0.4
Solitary Sandpiper
-51%
0.9
Pectoral Sandpiper
-41%
1.6
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
-76%
0.1
Semipalmated Sandpiper
-40%
1.6
Barn Swallow
-31%
7.1
American Golden-Plover
-97%
0
Purple Martin
-52%
0.8
White-winged Dove
-22%
9
Lesser Black-backed Gull
-48%
0.6
Least Sandpiper
-21%
5.8
Caspian Tern
-29%
2.3
Prothonotary Warbler
-37%
1.4
American Avocet
-41%
1
Spotted Sandpiper
-25%
3.8
Kentucky Warbler
-37%
0.9
Lesser Yellowlegs
-29%
2.2
Black-necked Stilt
-33%
1.9
Mississippi Kite
-46%
0.8
Harris’s Sparrow. John Corden/Macaulay Library. eBird S31583192
Great Plains
A moderate to heavy flight night on Friday and a locally heavy northern Plains flight onSunday were the highlights of the weekend. Locally moderate to heavy flights punctuated the work week, but scattered precipitation that was party to an unsettled atmospheric scene kept movements from reaching regional or even sub-regional extents.
Light to moderate flights were apparent across the region for much of the weekend. This was particularly true for the Central Valley of California, the area around the Great Salt Lake, and parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. By the beginning of the work week, intensities and extents of migration had decreased, with most of the action along the Pacific Coast for the remainder of the period. This included nice flights in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday night and in California on Wednesday and Thursday nights.