The recent warm periods have brought up birds a little earlier than normal.
By John Pogacnik, Biologist
The weather rollercoaster continues. The next couple of days will be cold, with a warm-up expected Sunday through Tuesday before things will cool off again. The recent warm periods have brought up birds including eastern phoebes and tree swallows a little earlier than normal. Which brings up the question, what happens to these birds when it gets cold again?
Birds migrating this early in the season are actually more prepared for weather changes than we might think. The early migrants have been doing this for centuries and are pretty well prepared. As we know, snow is always a possibility in Northeast Ohio until the middle of April, and some years even later. As long as it is not for an extended period or temperatures are not too extreme, the birds are able to cope. We need to remember that the birds we see migrating this time of year are birds that have spent the winter south of us in the continental United States. The Neotropical migrants such the warblers and vireos that wintered in Central and South America are still well south of us and do not start showing up here until April.
At this time of year food is in short supply because birds and other animals have been feeding on it through the winter. The winter’s heavy snows have flattened some food to the ground, making it difficult to find. This is why it so important to wildlife how big of a food crop we have going into the winter. If you have been feeding the birds, continue to do so. This is when it is most important.
Wintering birds such as American robins, cedar waxwings and European starlings rapidly deplete the fruit supply. What is left is fruit on staghorn sumac and some of the crabapples. While edible, birds don’t prefer it and it is often still on the trees this time of the year. When the American robins and eastern bluebirds migrate back this time of the year the only food left is often on these trees. If you find large stands of sumac, crabapples or other fruit trees, they can often be a magnet to birds.
At Lake Erie Bluffs, there are several large areas of staghorn sumac. One large area is at the northwest corner of the Bluffs Loop Trail west of Lane Road. This is a great place to see concentrations of robins and other fruit-eating birds. When the gray catbirds and thrashers come back in late April and early May, they will often be seen in the same trees. A gray catbird, rare in the winter, wintered at the bluffs this year and was often seen feeding in this stand of sumac. The fields south of the Clark Road parking area have a large number of crabapple trees that also attract a lot of fruit-eating birds. In March 2015, five Bohemian waxwings, rare for Ohio, were found in this area.
The cold snap predicted for the next several days should slow down migration until at least Sunday. Warmer than normal temperatures will bring back the migrants. This time of year, each new warm spell brings more bird numbers and new species. We should continue to see more and more blackbirds (including rusty blackbirds), robins, bluebirds and meadowlarks. Early songbirds such as eastern phoebe, eastern towhees and fox sparrows should increase in numbers. Also watch for more migrating vultures and hawks. A lot depends on the weather. Monday and Tuesday, March 6 & 7 look the best for migration. After that, temperatures are forecasted to stay close to normal for a while.
Where are the waterfowl? It appears that the majority of the geese and swans have moved through. Dabbling and diving duck numbers and variety are lower than usual because of the weather. Waterfowl migration often moves slowly northward and is in synch with the weather. If the lakes and ponds are frozen north of here we see the best waterfowl numbers. The mild weather this winter has allowed the waterfowl to keep moving north of us. Watch Lake Erie, Veterans Park and larger ponds for waterfowl.
Ring-necked ducks
The warm weather last week brought a lot of migrants into the area. Large numbers of turkey vultures passed through last Friday with more than 200 counted at Lake Erie Bluffs. Other migrants included eastern phoebe, greater white-fronted geese and American woodcock. Tuesday and Thursday saw 600+ and 800+ geese pass by and by Friday only 200 were counted. The majority of birds passing by on Lake Erie were red-breasted mergansers.
Birding at Lake Metroparks
Photos by John Pogacnik, Lake Metroparks Biologist
How do we know when different species of birds will migrate?
A great hawk migration needs two things: south winds and sunshine.
Learning where winds are coming from can help predict when birds will migrate.