Get out this week to see migrating birds!
By John Pogacnik, Biologist
This has been an unusual spring with almost constant below normal temperatures and an abundance of cold north winds. There have been very few strong migration days so far. What do birds do in weather like this?
Birds are driven by photoperiod during this time of year. Photoperiod is the hours of daylight in a day. As we progress from winter to spring, the amount of daylight slowly increases. As we get to certain hours of daylight, it triggers something in birds that tells them that its time to head north. If they receive that stimulus during a time of south winds, it’s an easy decision for the birds. However, when we have north winds and rain or snow, it makes migration a lot more difficult. Birds have the desire to migrate and they will only wait so long for favorable winds. Because of this, we have seen birds trickling through. When we finally get the good south winds, a lot of birds will try to make up time.
Migrating birds have a long way to go and when you depend on weather, you need to take advantage of what is available. If we are getting north winds and areas to the west are getting favorable south winds, birds will take advantage of it. Lake Erie makes its own weather—this is pretty evident in the winter with lake effect snow. This time of the year it also plays a big part with wind direction. As the weather warms, it often creates a wind off the lake. This means the wind often changes direction in mid-morning from south to north. When this happens, you will see temperatures in the 70s inland, but only in the 50s along the lake, which often kills good songbird migration and hawk flights. Once the winds switch to the north, hawks will often move inland. I have been along the lake as the winds switch and in a matter of minutes all signs of migration disappear. The time to be out is when we have a strong wind out of the south. I have seen more than 1,000 vultures and hawks moving on that kind of a day.
In the old days, you looked at weather maps in the newspaper or television and tried to guess what would go on. The internet has made things a lot easier. There are some good websites that show what direction the winds are and how strong they will be. Check out https://embed.windy.com/. You can move the slider at the bottom to see what the winds will be doing over the next few days (the coloration shows how strong the winds will be). The thing to look for is south winds from the gulf straight up to the Great Lakes.
Eastern towhee
Predictions are showing some very favorable conditions starting today and going into Saturday. By Monday, April 16, we’ll see a return of north winds and snow.
This is a good time of the year to keep your eyes open. With the migrating vultures and raptors, you can get some unusual things flying overhead like sandhill cranes, shorebirds, and songbirds like pipits. Watch sparrow flocks for the odd sparrow such as clay-colored, Henslow’s, and grasshopper sparrows. In spring, sparrows can show up in just about any habitat.
South winds are predicted for Wednesday into the weekend. Friday may be the best day with partly sunny conditions and temperatures climbing to nearly 70 degrees. This should result in good hawk movement through the period with Friday looking particularly good. We could see some flocks of broad-winged hawks that typically migrate in mid April.
There should be a lot of songbirds moving this week, including kinglets, sapsuckers, and sparrows, but numbers have been low.
We are at the tail end of the waterfowl movement, but there still some moving. Red-breasted mergansers are the main waterfowl that can be seen now on Lake Erie. The larger inland lakes have seen more variety.
If you can find shorebird habitat, they are beginning to move also.
Yellow bellied sapsucker
I haven’t experienced any noteworthy sightings due to the recent weather. When it has been sunny, there have been movements of turkey vultures with a few scattered raptors mixed in. Songbirds have been showing up in small numbers. A few swallows, kinglets, and sparrows have been seen. Elsewhere eared grebes and red-throated loons have been seen, so take a good look at any grebes and loons you come across.
We are at the tail end of the waterfowl migration, but nice-sized flocks of long-tailed ducks were see east of here.
Believe it or not, despite the less than spring-like temperatures, warblers have returned. Louisiana waterthrushes were found at Holden Arboretum and Hell Hollow Wilderness Area on April 2. Look for them in their usual breeding sites along the Grand and Chagrin Rivers. Pine warblers have also been seen. Watch for them in large pines. Pine siskins and purple finches have also been increasing at feeders locally.
Birding at Lake Metroparks
Photos by John Pogacnik, Lake Metroparks Biologist