Regional Migration Analysis: 13-20 October 2017
Continental Summary
Locally moderate flights occurred in the West during this period and featured Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Dunlin, Herring Gull, Mew Gull, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, and American Pipit, while a significant pulse of moderate to very heavy flights occurred in the East and featured Brant, Bufflehead, Surf Scoter, American Coot, Bonaparte’s Gull, Hermit Thrush, Lapland Longspur, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow.
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Upper Midwest and Northeast![]() |
Gulf Coast and Southeast![]() |
Great Plains![]() |
West![]() |
Upper Midwest and Northeast
Locally moderate to heavy flights were scattered across the Upper Midwest to begin the period; little movement was apparent east of the Appalachians. A significant cold front arrive and began to push through the region on Saturday night and Sunday, bringing widespread moderate to very heavy flights to the west of the Appalachians on Sunday night and then similarly intense flights to the east of the Appalachians on Monday night. The days following the frontal passage saw typically diminished intensity and extent of movements, as warmer and southerly flow returned with building high pressure. These flights were primarily light to moderate, occurring primarily west of the Appalachians.
Top Movers
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Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting
Dark-eyed Junco,155%,18.2
Hermit Thrush,127%,10
White-throated Sparrow,59%,35.3
Brant,255%,2.3
Golden-crowned Kinglet,57%,20.6
Fox Sparrow,180%,2.5
American Tree Sparrow,488%,1.5
Pine Siskin,109%,3.4
Ruddy Duck,81%,4.7
Bufflehead,734%,1.1
Surf Scoter,122%,2.7
Yellow-rumped Warbler,36%,37.6
American Coot,63%,5.4
Bonaparte’s Gull,104%,2.8
Dunlin,106%,2.7
White-crowned Sparrow,36%,11.7
Red-tailed Hawk,26%,16.8
Winter Wren,53%,5.2
Pied-billed Grebe,34%,8.8
Ring-necked Duck,79%,2.1
Song Sparrow,16%,40.4
Swamp Sparrow,23%,17.2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,18%,26.1
Lesser Scaup,99%,1.3
Common Loon,41%,4
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Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting
Chimney Swift,-97%,0.3
Black-throated Green Warbler,-95%,0.3
Gray Catbird,-68%,9.3
Magnolia Warbler,-96%,0.2
Common Yellowthroat,-71%,4.1
Indigo Bunting,-82%,0.9
Swainson’s Thrush,-84%,0.7
House Wren,-65%,3
American Redstart,-86%,0.7
Red-eyed Vireo,-90%,0.4
Tennessee Warbler,-82%,0.8
Scarlet Tanager,-99%,0
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,-97%,0.1
Black-and-white Warbler,-92%,0.3
Eastern Wood-Pewee,-92%,0.3
Nashville Warbler,-67%,1.5
Eastern Phoebe,-33%,17.1
Great Egret,-35%,7.2
Blackpoll Warbler,-74%,0.7
Gray-cheeked Thrush,-91%,0.1
Northern Flicker,-22%,25.5
Killdeer,-26%,9.6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird,-79%,0.5
Wood Duck,-24%,9.3
Blue-winged Teal,-49%,1.8
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Gulf Coast and Southeast
Locally moderate and heavy flights were scattered across the region to begin the period. But it was the passage of a cold front on Sunday night that significantly expanded the extent and enhanced the intensity of the flights. Moderate to heavy flights became widespread west of the Mississippi River on Sunday night, intensifying in areas east of the Mississippi River on Monday to include heavy and very heavy flights in Florida and the southern Appalachians and coastal plains. With the passage of the system, and the arrival of more southerly flow on Tuesday, flight intensities dropped significantly in most areas as did their extents for the remainder of the period. Locally moderate to heavy flights continued in Florida.
Top Movers
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Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting
Yellow-rumped Warbler,664%,13.6
White-throated Sparrow,14998%,4.1
Swamp Sparrow,1110%,4.8
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker,379%,9
Savannah Sparrow,389%,4.3
Golden-crowned Kinglet,6035%,3.3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,167%,15.1
House Wren,132%,14
Orange-crowned Warbler,208%,4.5
Palm Warbler,89%,22.8
Eastern Meadowlark,132%,5.5
Hermit Thrush,591%,1.7
Winter Wren,632%,1.6
Eastern Phoebe,53%,32.6
Song Sparrow,94%,8.1
Gadwall,242%,2
Lincoln’s Sparrow,183%,2.6
Tree Swallow,104%,4.7
White-crowned Sparrow,290%,1.5
Dunlin,295%,1.4
Blue-headed Vireo,109%,3.5
Common Grackle,38%,14.1
Double-crested Cormorant,26%,15.2
Brown Creeper,777%,0.4
American Coot,58%,5.2
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Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting
Chimney Swift,-89%,1.2
Yellow Warbler,-92%,0.3
Swainson’s Thrush,-67%,2.4
Summer Tanager,-71%,1.8
Scarlet Tanager,-77%,1.1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird,-62%,5.5
Red-eyed Vireo,-58%,4.7
Eastern Wood-Pewee,-58%,3.7
Wood Thrush,-67%,0.9
Gray-cheeked Thrush,-79%,0.4
Magnolia Warbler,-49%,5.4
Wilson’s Warbler,-65%,0.9
Peregrine Falcon,-52%,2.1
Chestnut-sided Warbler,-48%,2.4
American Redstart,-30%,12.9
Philadelphia Vireo,-66%,0.5
Black-chinned Hummingbird,-95%,0
Tennessee Warbler,-37%,4
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron,-58%,0.8
White-eyed Vireo,-23%,13
Barn Swallow,-35%,4.1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,-31%,3.7
Dickcissel,-68%,0.3
Warbling Vireo,-97%,0
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Great Plains
Scattered moderate to heavy flights dominated the central and southern Plains airspace to begin the period. These flights continued, though significantly reduced in distribution and intensity, on Sunday night. But with high pressure and return flow in place on Monday and Tuesday, movements became significantly more localized and light. Other than a pulse of moderate flights in the central Plains on Wednesday night, these conditions and their associated low intensity and local flights continued through the remainder of the period.
Top Movers
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Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting
Gadwall,226%,16.6
Dark-eyed Junco,156%,24.7
American Tree Sparrow,905%,4
Song Sparrow,128%,17.4
White-throated Sparrow,96%,17.9
Golden-crowned Kinglet,312%,3.7
Bufflehead,234%,4.2
Ring-necked Duck,170%,5.2
White-crowned Sparrow,87%,15.1
Harris’s Sparrow,88%,10.7
Greater White-fronted Goose,172%,4.4
Mallard,51%,25.4
American Wigeon,92%,7.8
Hermit Thrush,221%,3.4
Redhead,84%,6.2
Lapland Longspur,503%,1.6
Cackling Goose,238%,1.8
Pied-billed Grebe,39%,21.1
Rough-legged Hawk,1220%,1.1
Sandhill Crane,120%,4.6
Savannah Sparrow,41%,12.7
Horned Grebe,201%,1.8
Horned Lark,56%,7.5
Field Sparrow,68%,6.5
Purple Finch,248%,1.4
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Species,Decrease from Last Week[attr style=”color:red”],% of Checklists Reporting
Nashville Warbler,-87%,1.5
Gray Catbird,-97%,0.2
Common Yellowthroat,-99%,0.1
Swainson’s Hawk,-100%,0
House Wren,-85%,1.4
Barn Swallow,-88%,1.1
Clay-colored Sparrow,-85%,0.8
Brown Thrasher,-85%,0.9
Eastern Phoebe,-56%,6.8
Turkey Vulture,-45%,16.8
Orange-crowned Warbler,-52%,8.6
Blue-winged Teal,-58%,4
Great Egret,-53%,5.4
Tree Swallow,-93%,0.1
Snowy Egret,-91%,0.2
Indigo Bunting,-74%,1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,-59%,3
Mourning Dove,-33%,22.1
Chimney Swift,-110%,-0.8
Osprey,-42%,4.7
Sora,-64%,0.9
Long-billed Dowitcher,-58%,1.2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird,-101%,0
Summer Tanager,-114%,-0.3
Pectoral Sandpiper,-82%,0.2
West
Light to moderate flights occurred around the fringes of the region to kickoff the period, from the Pacific Northwest south along the Pacific Coast and then east along the Mexican border to Texas. These flights were most intense on Saturday night, including some locally heavy flights in the southern Rockies. Beginning Monday, many of these areas saw noticeably less intense movements, and generally local very light flights across the remainder of the region. Some exceptions occurred in the Central Valley and southern Rockies, where slightly more intense flights continues through the end of the period. Note that on Thursday, areas that had experienced the most intense flights of the week saw precipitation, effectively shutting down migration.
Top Movers
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Species,Increase from Last Week[attr style=”color:green”],% of Checklists Reporting
Dunlin,202%,2.6
Bufflehead,220%,2.5
Western Grebe,51%,9.7
Surf Scoter,56%,3.8
Common Loon,50%,3.6
Hermit Thrush,39%,9.5
Eared Grebe,39%,5.6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,23%,22.3
Lesser Scaup,59%,2.3
Horned Grebe,46%,3.4
Glaucous-winged Gull,31%,5
Black Turnstone,50%,1.9
American Wigeon,16%,11.3
Herring Gull,45%,2.2
Mew Gull,33%,2.9
Bald Eagle,22%,5.1
Ruddy Duck,16%,8.1
Cackling Goose,25%,4
Ring-necked Duck,19%,5.9
Whimbrel,42%,1.5
Willet,16%,3.1
American Pipit,13%,6.3
Mountain Chickadee,8%,8.5
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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
Wilson’s Warbler,-93%,0.4
Yellow Warbler,-85%,1.1
Western Tanager,-90%,0.3
Turkey Vulture,-44%,9.9
Orange-crowned Warbler,-45%,7.4
Pacific-slope Flycatcher,-93%,0.1
Barn Swallow,-71%,1.6
Black-throated Gray Warbler,-58%,2
Chipping Sparrow,-43%,3.8
Warbling Vireo,-83%,0.4
Broad-tailed Hummingbird,-97%,0
Western Wood-Pewee,-93%,0.1
Greater White-fronted Goose,-48%,1.4
Common Yellowthroat,-26%,6.4
Hutton’s Vireo,-30%,3.2
Savannah Sparrow,-18%,8.7
House Wren,-22%,6
Vaux’s Swift,-73%,0.2
Caspian Tern,-53%,0.7
Violet-green Swallow,-43%,0.8
Elegant Tern,-36%,0.9
Greater Yellowlegs,-15%,5.3
Pine Siskin,-13%,8.6
Red-breasted Sapsucker,-20%,1.8
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Farnsworth and Van Doren
Scientific Team
BirdCast is made possible by the participating scientists at the below institutions, and many other contributors.











