News

In the early morning hours of 30 April, a strong frontal boundary is moving toward the Atlantic. This front has strong storms with intense precipitation, and in advance of its passage favorable winds for bird migration.

As of approximately 3pm Central Daylight Time, some intense thunderstorms are about to interact with an inbound trans-Gulf migration event.

An exciting migration event unfolded yesterday morning and this morning in Southern California, as many thousands of birds continued their nocturnal movements well into the first hours of day light.

As of 20 April 2020 the BirdCast live migration maps switched color palettes to match migration forecast maps. The new color palette is more suitable for viewers with green-, red-, or blue-color blindness, and is perceptually uniform in color and black-and-white (see this interesting talk by the designers of this so-called “viridis” color scale).

This update focuses on the migration activity in the West where several nights of significant movements were apparent recently.

A brief migration update – another frontal boundary has started to move into the Gulf of Mexico region , and there are a number of interesting events to share this evening with its passage.

We updated the color scheme of migration forecast maps on 13 April 2020 to add more contrast to the palette that makes visually impaired viewing easier.

A frontal boundary is approaching the Gulf of Mexico region, likely moving over water late on Thursday evening. Fallouts and concentrations of migrating birds are likely along the Gulf of Mexico coast for several days.

Spring migration is now in full effect in many areas, with the beginnings of some peak windows of passage approaching for the southern latitudes of the US in the coming two weeks! Light to medium intensity movements will occur in the eastern and southern US.

Many species are on the move as we officially cross the vernal equinox threshold into the realm of Northern Hemisphere spring.

Spring migration is well underway for a number of species, and the tables below highlight species you can expect in your regions over the coming week!

BirdCast returns with some species on the move discussions for spring 2020! Killdeer is a familiar and hardy shorebird with a generally high tolerance for human habitation and landscapes, and the earliest migrants of this species have been on the move in recent weeks.