Osprey. Michael Linz/Macaulay Library. eBird S35067136.

Continental Summary

Scattered light to moderate movements, primarily in California and the Desert Southwest, punctuated the early migration scene in the West and featured Swainson’s Hawk, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Sage Thrasher, and Hooded Oriole, while light to moderate flights in the southern states featured Blue-winged Teal, Osprey, Chuck-will’s-widow, Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow, Marsh Wren, and Summer Tanager.

Curious what birds will move next? Check out our forecast.

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Need a review of our definitions for regions, species on the move, and migration amounts? Please visit this link.

Quick Links to Regions

Upper Midwest and Northeast	Gulf Coast and Southeast
Great Plains	West

Upper Midwest and Northeast

A quiet early “spring” weekend in the region saw light to locally moderate flights in the central Mississippi River valley, Ohio River valley, and the northern and central Appalachians. But a strong passing cold front shut down these early movements. Wednesday and Thursday night saw a return of similarly distributed light to locally moderate flights.

Top Movers

[expand title=”Increasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,desc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting

Tree Swallow,291%,3.3
Wood Duck,74%,8.3
Eastern Phoebe,131%,4.3
Pied-billed Grebe,55%,5.8
American Robin,29%,41.4
Blue-winged Teal,100%,1.5
Hooded Merganser,37%,12
Turkey Vulture,29%,20.4
Osprey,156%,0.9
Green-winged Teal,42%,8.4
Ring-necked Duck,29%,13.1
American Coot,33%,6.5
Horned Grebe,34%,4.1
Killdeer,53%,15
Song Sparrow,21%,32
Northern Shoveler,33%,7.9
Pine Warbler,54%,1.8
Field Sparrow,47%,2.6
Bufflehead,23%,13.7
Double-crested Cormorant,36%,3.7
Great Blue Heron,20%,8.5
Fish Crow,41%,6.7
American Wigeon,31%,6.4
Eastern Meadowlark,28%,3.7
Red-winged Blackbird,21%,41.1

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[expand title=”Decreasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,asc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting

Red-necked Grebe,-58%,0.1
Rough-legged Hawk,-37%,0.7
Purple Finch,-46%,1
Horned Lark,-24%,2.8
Pine Siskin,-31%,0.8
Black-capped Chickadee,-14%,25.3
Snow Goose,-17%,2.8
Pine Grosbeak,-54%,0.1
Snow Bunting,-40%,0.3
Northern Shrike,-30%,0.5
Common Redpoll,-32%,0.2
Red-breasted Nuthatch,-19%,4.2
American Goldfinch,-15%,17.5
American Tree Sparrow,-12%,8.7
Snowy Owl,-36%,0.1
Iceland Gull,-28%,0.2

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Summer Tanager. Gabriel Gonzalez/Macaulay Library. eBird S35053186.

Gulf Coast and Southeast

Light to moderate flights peppered the region to kick off the weekend, first to the west and then to the east of the Mississippi River valley. Monday and Thursday nights saw the greatest spatial extents of the period’s flights, with birds aloft from Texas to Florida, while the days between saw significantly limited but similarly intense flights.

Top Movers

[expand title=”Increasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,desc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting

Northern Parula,48%,10.8
Great Crested Flycatcher,99%,2.4
Barn Swallow,49%,3.9
White-eyed Vireo,41%,11
Blue-headed Vireo,46%,4.4
Purple Martin,29%,6.5
Chuck-will’s-widow,342%,0.5
Black-and-white Warbler,49%,4.5
Gray Catbird,36%,11.5
Swallow-tailed Kite,40%,2.5
Brown Thrasher,19%,10.8
Prairie Warbler,59%,2
Ovenbird,108%,0.8
Summer Tanager,308%,0.3
Yellow-throated Vireo,121%,0.5
Cliff Swallow,162%,0.3
American Golden-Plover,104%,0.4
Cedar Waxwing,14%,10.7
Laughing Gull,19%,13.6
Caspian Tern,63%,2.6
Yellow-throated Warbler,30%,3.8
Northern Rough-winged Swallow,22%,2.3

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[expand title=”Decreasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,asc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting

Northern Harrier,-26%,4.1
Western Meadowlark,-38%,0.6
American Pipit,-23%,1.3
Ring-necked Duck,-23%,4.6
Northern Shoveler,-19%,6.1
Ring-billed Gull,-15%,12.3
Gadwall,-18%,5.7
Greater White-fronted Goose,-54%,0.1
Rock Wren,-58%,0.1
Canvasback,-33%,0.4
Wilson’s Snipe,-19%,3.5
Fulvous Whistling-Duck,-51%,0.1
Tundra Swan,-52%,0.1
American Coot,-9%,13.2

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Marsh Wren. Bob Harden/Macaulay Library. eBird S34976882.

Great Plains

Local light movements were the norm for the period. Most of the action, so to speak, occurred in the central and southern Plains, primarily in Oklahoma. The greatest intensity of the period’s flights occurred on Wednesday night.

Top Movers

[expand title=”Increasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,desc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting

Eastern Phoebe,60%,12.1
Western Meadowlark,64%,10.9
Green-winged Teal,84%,12.1
Fox Sparrow,115%,5.8
Tree Swallow,217%,2.3
American Wigeon,39%,12.4
Belted Kingfisher,68%,6.4
Brown-headed Cowbird,64%,6
Mountain Bluebird,855%,1.1
Common Grackle,33%,10.4
Blue-winged Teal,56%,3.7
Sandhill Crane,48%,4
Northern Shoveler,27%,12.6
Red-winged Blackbird,17%,33.4
Gadwall,24%,17.7
Cackling Goose,37%,6.8
American Tree Sparrow,30%,13
Horned Grebe,38%,3.2
White-crowned Sparrow,48%,7.9
Canada Goose,11%,46.7
Ruddy Duck,28%,5.6
Cooper’s Hawk,27%,4.6
Marsh Wren,317%,1.1
Killdeer,18%,24.3
Redhead,20%,9.8

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[expand title=”Decreasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,asc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting

American Woodcock,-35%,0.8
Herring Gull,-25%,2.6
Sharp-shinned Hawk,-20%,2.1
American Kestrel,-17%,7.7
Barn Owl,-67%,0.1
Greater White-fronted Goose,-18%,4.1
Eared Grebe,-58%,0.1
Tundra Swan,-44%,0.2
Purple Finch,-20%,1.8
Ferruginous Hawk,-51%,0.1
Common Merganser,-24%,4.7
Brown Thrasher,-75%,0
Snowy Owl,-41%,0.1
Hairy Woodpecker,-9%,6.6
Brown Creeper,-8%,3.9
Short-eared Owl,-29%,0.2
Eastern Towhee,-26%,0.1
Mourning Dove,-2%,23

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Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Emily Tornga/Macaulay Library. eBird S35048749.

West

Local light movements occurred from California through the Desert Southwest to begin the weekend.  However, scattered precipitation in many areas quickly quieted these flights. The next round of movement was similarly distributed, occurring on Tuesday night. Some of these flights were more intense, locally moderate in the Desert Southwest. This intensity expanded to additional southern reaches of the region on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Top Movers

[expand title=”Increasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,desc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting

Broad-billed Hummingbird,103%,2.2
Barn Swallow,89%,1.5
Lucy’s Warbler,1636%,0.5
Swainson’s Hawk,325%,0.8
Violet-green Swallow,31%,3.6
Hooded Oriole,143%,0.5
Bell’s Vireo,720%,0.2
Vermilion Flycatcher,24%,3
Cliff Swallow,35%,1.5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow,27%,4.7
Pacific-slope Flycatcher,1033%,0.1
Phainopepla,17%,4.6
Ash-throated Flycatcher,75%,0.5
Orange-crowned Warbler,20%,5.5
Sage Thrasher,61%,0.7
Mourning Dove,7%,23.5

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[expand title=”Decreasing” tag=”h3″]
[table sort=”,asc” tablesorter=”true”]
Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting

Herring Gull,-42%,1.8
Spotted Sandpiper,-42%,1
Tundra Swan,-40%,1.2
Canvasback,-34%,2.2
Glaucous-winged Gull,-27%,3.9
American White Pelican,-35%,2
Snow Goose,-35%,1.4
Thayer’s Gull,-41%,0.7
Hooded Merganser,-29%,3.8
Blue-winged Teal,-37%,0.8
Heermann’s Gull,-39%,0.5
Northern Harrier,-20%,6.4
Red Crossbill,-61%,0.3
Brown Pelican,-28%,1.5
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch,-72%,0.1
Trumpeter Swan,-32%,0.8
Bald Eagle,-19%,7.7
Northern Shoveler,-18%,9.6
Northern Pintail,-20%,5.3
California Gull,-20%,6.3
Cackling Goose,-24%,3.6

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Farnsworth and Van Doren