Migration is in Full Swing

Red-eyed Vireo, a Florida migrant.

Have you noticed that migration is in full swing? Great-crested Flycatchers are back. Red-eyed Vireos are back so early that you must justify them when reporting in eBird.

There are two great websites to help you track migration. The first is from Cornell, BirdCast. On the night of March 13, 94,200 birds crossed Hillsborough County. Expected nocturnal migrants are listed and warblers are leading the way!

According to a migration graph, our peak migration occurs in late April to early May. You can see the graph here.

Migration forecast maps show migration intensity. Brighter colors show a higher migration traffic rate. On March 13, 26 million birds were predicted to be migrating across North America. That is an increase from 10 million on March 10.

With the Local Bird Migration Alert tool, you can determine birds migration density at your home county in low, medium, or high levels. That tool is here.

National Audubon also has a great site on bird migration. The Bird Migration Explorer “is your guide to the heroic annual journeys made by over 450 bird species, and the challenges they face along the way.”

You can learn more about a species, the migratory birds at a specific location, or a conservation challenge birds face. You can see animated maps of a specific species like the Black-throated Blue Warbler (click here.)

The Locations link, lets you to select a bird destination location, like Yellowstone, and find species linked to another location. The Migration Journeys box on the right side of the page allows you to explore the travels of thousands of individual migratory birds.

Migration is under way!