American Woodcock. Richard Evon/Macaulay Library. eBird S40330645.
Continental Summary
Local light and moderate flights were the norm in the West featuring Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Trumpeter Swan, Bonaparte’s Gull, Snowy Owl, American Kestrel, and Horned Lark, while moderate and heavy flights occurred in numerous areas of the East featuring Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Hooded, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Tundra Swan, Bonaparte’s Gull, Snow Bunting, and American Tree Sparrow.
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Widespread moderate to locally heavy flights kicked off the weekend. These extent of these flights quickly collapsed to isolated coastal flights by Saturday, but then expanded again in portions of the Upper Midwest following the passage of a frontal boundary there on Sunday night. As the frontal boundary moved east, locally moderate to heavy flights followed on Monday night. And the remainder of the week saw similarly restricted moderate and heavy flights around the region, particularly in its southern reaches. Note some local coastal activity persisted on many nights of the period, typical of this time of the migration season.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Tundra Swan
1843%
4.8
Snowy Owl
1743%
0.5
Bufflehead
567%
18.1
Common Goldeneye
414%
4.1
Hooded Merganser
248%
10.5
Long-tailed Duck
137%
3
Horned Grebe
127%
4.8
Lesser Scaup
119%
4.6
Red-breasted Merganser
99%
5.5
Common Merganser
96%
5.3
Common Loon
76%
10.6
Snow Bunting
75%
2.2
Bonaparte's Gull
71%
7.7
American Tree Sparrow
71%
6.2
Common Redpoll
60%
1.1
Ruddy Duck
53%
8.7
Rough-legged Hawk
48%
1.3
Greater Scaup
42%
1.8
Trumpeter Swan
40%
1.4
White-winged Scoter
34%
3.6
Brant
17%
3.4
Pied-billed Grebe
15%
12.2
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Lincoln's Sparrow
-88%
0.3
Orange-crowned Warbler
-80%
0.4
Blue-winged Teal
-74%
0.4
White-crowned Sparrow
-73%
2.2
Eastern Phoebe
-68%
2.4
Great Egret
-64%
2.2
Chipping Sparrow
-63%
3.6
Savannah Sparrow
-62%
2.7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
-55%
7.3
Killdeer
-55%
4
Yellow-rumped Warbler
-53%
12.4
Field Sparrow
-53%
3.2
Swamp Sparrow
-47%
6.3
Hermit Thrush
-46%
3.6
Eastern Towhee
-45%
3.8
Turkey Vulture
-43%
11.5
Red-winged Blackbird
-41%
13.3
Common Grackle
-41%
6.5
Greater Yellowlegs
-40%
3.2
American Robin
-25%
30.4
Song Sparrow
-22%
26
Double-crested Cormorant
-22%
17.4
Great Blue Heron
-21%
15.1
White-throated Sparrow
-17%
26.5
Blue Jay
-12%
48.7
Bufflehead. Jay Wherley/Macaulay Library. eBird S40409298.
Gulf Coast and Southeast
Widespread moderate flights in the region began on Friday night but gradually became increasingly less extensive by Sunday, when they were distributed mostly in coastal areas. Monday and Tuesday nights saw these movements generally intensify, though they remained somewhat less extensive than region wide. With a slow frontal passage ending the period, moderate to locally very heavy flights occurred on Wednesday and Thursday nights in the wake of the boundary’s advances.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Bufflehead
2381%
2
Hooded Merganser
2173%
3.2
Canvasback
830%
1.5
Lesser Scaup
484%
3.6
Snow Goose
366%
2.7
Ring-necked Duck
314%
6.2
Redhead
257%
3.3
Northern Pintail
187%
5.4
Dark-eyed Junco
182%
5.5
Northern Shoveler
113%
7.8
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Black-throated Blue Warbler
-92%
0.2
Indigo Bunting
-78%
1.1
Tennessee Warbler
-76%
0.3
Black-throated Green Warbler
-61%
0.8
Yellow-throated Warbler
-50%
2.2
Barn Swallow
-48%
2.7
Brown Thrasher
-47%
5.5
Black-and-white Warbler
-47%
3.6
Pine Warbler
-41%
5.9
Gray Catbird
-40%
12.7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-31%
6.7
Common Yellowthroat
-30%
7.8
Blue Jay
-26%
35.3
Palm Warbler
-25%
17.2
Northern Flicker
-25%
13.5
Common Grackle
-23%
10.4
Red-tailed Hawk
-22%
10.4
Turkey Vulture
-17%
29
American Crow
-15%
27.2
Ferruginous Hawk. Colin Croft/Macaulay Library. eBird S40313437.
Great Plains
A slow start for migration on Friday and Saturday finally gave way to scattered moderate to heavy flights in the central and southern Plains on Sunday night. Several small pulses of locally light to moderate flights persisted generally in more southern areas for the remainder of the period, but migration was generally low intensity or nearly nonexistent in other areas.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Red-breasted Merganser
3615%
3.2
Common Merganser
2385%
3.5
Common Goldeneye
1420%
5.6
Ross's Goose
748%
3.6
Hooded Merganser
645%
14
Snow Goose
421%
10.7
Common Loon
321%
7.2
Ferruginous Hawk
259%
2.3
Bonaparte's Gull
258%
5.9
Bufflehead
238%
13.5
Greater Scaup
219%
2.2
Lesser Scaup
209%
15.3
Cackling Goose
176%
8.5
Herring Gull
154%
5
Greater White-fronted Goose
144%
4.4
Golden-crowned Kinglet
94%
4.6
American Kestrel
70%
13.5
Canvasback
68%
6.1
Redhead
60%
11.8
Mallard
53%
36.3
Canada Goose
52%
37.2
Northern Shoveler
49%
14.9
Ring-billed Gull
24%
28.3
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Long-billed Dowitcher
-91%
0.1
Red Crossbill
-78%
0.9
Eared Grebe
-78%
0.5
Lincoln's Sparrow
-69%
1.5
Blue-winged Teal
-67%
0.7
Chipping Sparrow
-66%
2.3
Red-breasted Nuthatch
-57%
2.4
Orange-crowned Warbler
-54%
1.1
Marsh Wren
-54%
0.6
Turkey Vulture
-52%
2.4
Field Sparrow
-48%
2
American Avocet
-47%
0.9
Common Grackle
-45%
3.9
Swamp Sparrow
-42%
1.7
Great Egret
-42%
1.6
Sharp-shinned Hawk
-40%
2.3
Franklin's Gull
-38%
6.6
Black-capped Chickadee
-26%
15.5
Yellow-rumped Warbler
-23%
16.8
Red-bellied Woodpecker
-20%
17.2
White-throated Sparrow
-18%
9.7
Northern Flicker
-17%
19.9
Carolina Wren
-15%
12.2
Trumpeter Swan. John Gatchet/Macaulay Library. eBird S40373243.
West
Scattered precipitation and some unfavorable wind conditions kept many remaining migrants in the region grounded for much of the weekend. Moderate flights returned to the most common location for such flights in the region at this time of year, the Central Valley of California. However, disturbances and their associated precipitation returned to fill the remainder of the period in many areas, with generally marginal to unfavorable migration conditions keeping migration localized and light.
