News

  • August 24, 2017Regional Migration Forecast: 25 August to 1 September 2017

    Moderate movements featuring Northern Shoveler, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, Warbling Vireo, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, and Western Tanager are likely in many areas of the West, while the East will see scattered moderate to heavy pulses that feature Blue-winged Teal, Common Nighthawk, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Summer Tanager. The dangerous Hurricane Harvey will bring typical Gulf of Mexico bound seabirds and near shore species to inland locations from Texas and Louisiana to Arkansas over the course of the week.

  • April 25, 2014Regional Migration Forecast: 25 April – 2 May 2014

    Continental Summary Widespread light to moderate movements early in the weekend are shut down by two consecutive disturbances in the West, while the arrival of these same disturbances in the East brings a patchwork of moderate to locally heavy movements…

  • October 24, 2014Regional Migration Forecast: 24-31 October 2014

    Continental Summary Moderate to heavy movements occur in several pulses this week, though primarily at more local than regional scales, as storm systems exit the Northeast over the weekend and pass through the Great Plains and Upper Midwest over the…

  • March 24, 2017Regional Migration Forecast: 24-31 March 2017

    The West will see a mix of marginal migration conditions spawning scattered light to moderate movements featuring Caspian Tern, Cassin’s Vireo, Barn Swallow, American Pipit, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, and Golden-crowned Sparrow, while light to locally heavy flights in the first half of the period and to end the period in the East will feature Sharp-shinned Hawk, Franklin’s Gull, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Great Crested Flycatcher, Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Orchard Oriole, and Field Sparrow. The forecast for late in this period also suggests the first significant chance for fallouts and concentrations of migrants along the Gulf Coast.

  • August 23, 2013Regional Migration Forecast: 24-30 August 2013

    Continental Summary: Scattered precipitation in many areas mutes otherwise light to locally moderate movements in the West, as much of the East, particularly the Northeast, sees an early weekend movement before waiting for its first big migration pulse at the…

  • September 23, 2016Regional Migration Forecast: 23-30 September 2016

    Favorable conditions for widespread light to moderate migration featuring Greater White-fronted Goose, Northern Shoveler, Eared Grebe, Red-tailed Hawk, Townsend’s Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-crowned Sparrow come to the West during the first half of the forecast period, while the East experiences several bouts of favorable migration conditions with moderate to locally very heavy flights of Pied-billed Grebe, Turkey Vulture, Franklin’s Gull, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Tennessee Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow.

  • October 23, 2015Regional Migration Forecast: 23-30 October 2015

    A favorable beginning and end of the period for the West sees light to moderate flights of Gadwall, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Harrier, Bonaparte’s Gull, Hermit Thrush, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and American Tree Sparrow, while a late weekend and late week pulse of moderate to heavy flights in the East feature Hooded Merganser, Common Loon, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Snow Bunting, American Tree Sparrow, and Chipping Sparrow.

  • May 23, 2014Regional Migration Forecast: 23-30 May 2014

    Continental Summary Complex patterns of moderate to heavy movements will reflect similarly complex patterns of unfavorable and favorable conditions in all the BirdCast regions for this period as the last of the spring season’s movements take place. Species on the…

  • March 22, 2013Regional Migration Forecast: 22-30 March 2013

    Continental Summary: This week’s migration forecast features the arrival of a strong high pressure center over the US, which will shut down migration as it approaches and builds, several disturbances that may spawn fallouts, and the potential for some European…

  • September 22, 2017Regional Migration Forecast: 22-29 September 2017

    Favorable migration conditions dominate the period in the West, where light to moderate movements featuring Common Merganser, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Black-bellied Plover, Townsend’s Warbler, Brewer’s Blackbird, and Savannah Sparrow will be widespread, while favorable migration conditions become widespread in the latter half of the period in the East, with moderate to very heavy movements featuring Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Sora, Northern Flicker, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Ovenbird, American Redstart, and Clay-colored Sparrow.

  • August 22, 2014Regional Migration Forecast: 22-29 August 2014

    Continental Summary Light to moderate movements, primarily in the Pacific Northwest, highlight the period in the West, while the first organized frontal boundary does not bring compelling and more regional scale movements in the East until the end of the…

  • April 22, 2016Regional Migration Forecast: 22-29 April 2016

    The most favorable migration conditions in the West bring light to moderate movements of Vaux’s Swift, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Western Kingbird, Bank Swallow, Virginia’s Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Lazuli Bunting, and Lark Sparrow during the work work, while the East experiences moderate to heavy flights featuring Forster’s Tern, Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue-headed Vireo, Kentucky Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart during a wave of favorable and unfavorable migration conditions associated with the movements of a strong frontal boundary.

Scientific Team

BirdCast is made possible by the participating scientists at the below institutions, and many other contributors.