Yellow-throated Warbler. Karen and Tom Beatty/Macaulay Library. eBird S35689749.
Continental Summary
The past week in the West saw light to moderate flights primarily in the southern portion of the region featuring Swainson’s Hawk, Vaux’s Swift, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Nashville Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting, while moderate and locally heavy flights came to many areas of the East and featured Marbled Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit, Swainson’s Thrush, Wood Thrush, House Wren, Northern Parula, Tennessee Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
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Locally moderate flights kicked off the period in the Midwest. By Sunday these movements were more widespread, covering the entirety of the region other than portions of the western Great Lakes. As a frontal boundary pushed east, these movements became increasingly restricted, first to the east of the Ohio River Valley and Appalachians and then to the coastal plain. Wednesday and Thursday nights saw a new round of light to moderate flights; however, these were not as widespread as flights earlier in the period, with conditions in much of New England and the northern Appalachians unfavorable for much movement.
Light to locally moderate flights were the norm for the weekend across the region, with generally unfavorable winds following passage of a strong frontal boundary in the preceding days. A new frontal boundary, and southerly flow ahead of it, spawned more intense flights on Monday night, particularly in Texas and Louisiana. Its passage also reduced and restricted flight intensities, but by Wednesday and Thursday nights more intense moderate flights had become more widespread in increasingly favorable conditions.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Summer Tanager
119%
9.4
Wood Thrush
171%
3.4
Red-eyed Vireo
93%
11.3
Scarlet Tanager
164%
4.1
Orchard Oriole
121%
6.8
Worm-eating Warbler
145%
4.9
Kentucky Warbler
174%
2.3
Indigo Bunting
89%
8.2
Blue Grosbeak
161%
2.6
American Redstart
129%
3.2
Tennessee Warbler
192%
1.9
Eastern Kingbird
71%
10.1
Hooded Warbler
87%
7.4
Chimney Swift
64%
13.3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
189%
1.5
Swainson's Warbler
121%
2.1
Prothonotary Warbler
79%
6
Cape May Warbler
169%
1.5
Great Crested Flycatcher
42%
16.1
Ovenbird
80%
3.3
Blue-winged Warbler
157%
1.5
Northern Waterthrush
106%
1.9
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
42%
10.8
Swainson's Thrush
180%
1
Chuck-will's-widow
71%
2.4
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Dark-eyed Junco
-67%
0.8
Pied-billed Grebe
-28%
6.6
Double-crested Cormorant
-22%
15.1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
-20%
12.5
American Kestrel
-41%
2
Green-winged Teal
-59%
0.7
Northern Flicker
-26%
4.5
Hermit Thrush
-32%
2.4
Ring-billed Gull
-24%
4.8
Osprey
-11%
15.8
Bonaparte's Gull
-55%
0.6
Northern Shoveler
-25%
3.2
Mallard
-16%
7.8
Northern Harrier
-32%
2.1
Bufflehead
-61%
0.5
Chipping Sparrow
-14%
13
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-58%
0.5
Fish Crow
-11%
19.1
Canada Goose
-12%
11.2
Wilson's Snipe
-39%
1.1
Song Sparrow
-14%
6.7
Western Sandpiper
-30%
1.2
Bald Eagle
-14%
5.1
Yellow-rumped Warbler
-7%
19.8
Hudsonian Godwit. Brian Peterson/Macaulay Library. eBird S35813240.
Great Plains
Locally light to moderate flights were the norm for the weekend, first in the eastern reaches of the region and then increasingly restricted to more southerly reaches. Friday night’s flights were the most intense of the period, as the remainder of the week saw scattered light to locally moderate flights peppered across the region. Although these became generally more widespread by period’s end, intensities did not increase noticeably over the period.
Top Movers
Increasing
Species
Increase from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
House Wren
264%
4
Lesser Yellowlegs
93%
10.9
Northern Parula
130%
6.9
Yellow-headed Blackbird
112%
6.3
Long-billed Dowitcher
155%
4.1
Chipping Sparrow
60%
13.7
Hudsonian Godwit
247%
2.3
Pectoral Sandpiper
116%
5.5
Swainson's Hawk
146%
3.9
Barn Swallow
57%
15.4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
60%
12.6
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
78%
8.8
Marbled Godwit
291%
2
Brown Thrasher
58%
13.4
Grasshopper Sparrow
177%
2.7
Brown-headed Cowbird
41%
24.2
Baird's Sandpiper
93%
4.9
Broad-winged Hawk
188%
2
Sora
183%
2
Wilson's Snipe
84%
6.1
Yellow-rumped Warbler
40%
17
Franklin's Gull
57%
9.3
American Avocet
101%
4.1
Tree Swallow
42%
15.7
White-faced Ibis
134%
3
Decreasing
Species
Decrease from Last Week
% of Checklists Reporting
Dark-eyed Junco
-67%
7.5
Ring-necked Duck
-40%
5.8
Common Goldeneye
-70%
0.9
American Tree Sparrow
-65%
1.1
Lesser Scaup
-27%
9.6
Ruddy Duck
-28%
7.3
Red-breasted Merganser
-65%
0.7
Fox Sparrow
-53%
1.5
Bald Eagle
-30%
5
American Wigeon
-21%
7.7
Herring Gull
-51%
0.9
Tundra Swan
-51%
0.9
Bufflehead
-19%
8.7
Greater Scaup
-47%
0.7
Northern Shoveler
-9%
24.1
Hooded Merganser
-23%
3.8
Redhead
-19%
5.4
Green-winged Teal
-14%
11.7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
-45%
0.7
Brown Creeper
-31%
1.8
Pied-billed Grebe
-13%
13.9
Snow Goose
-21%
3.2
Purple Finch
-39%
0.6
Rough-legged Hawk
-54%
0.3
Grace’s Warbler. Chris McCreedy/Macaulay Library. eBird S35860975.
West
Scattered precipitation occurred in many areas to kick off the period, with most movements restricted to portions of California and the Desert Southwest. In the wake of precipitation in more northerly areas, migration in those areas continued to show a slow start to the work week. But in more southerly areas, light to moderate movements were frequent. This pattern continued through the remainder of the period, with precipitation and unfavorable migration conditions continuing sporadically in more northerly areas and light to moderate flights continuing in more southerly areas.