2025 - Spring Bird Migration is Here!
Author: Karen Lloyd - May 2025
On Tuesday, March 25, local bird lovers and members of our Birders in the Grove group took a leisurely Waterfowl Walk around Elm Grove Pond. We were delighted to see Horned Grebes, Mallards, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Cooper’s Hawk, and other bird species including dozens of our Wisconsin State Bird, the American Robin. These harbingers of spring are so welcome after a long winter. It won’t be long before we are graced with the presence of hummingbirds, herons, egrets and orioles as they arrive a bit later in migration season.
In our area of Wisconsin, peak migration period is from May 6-May 23 on average. Our avian friends use the Mississippi Flyway as they travel North from their winter homes in South and Central America. They pass over the Gulf of Mexico and follow the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries as they make their way to their breeding grounds as far North as the Hudson Bay in Canada. If you are lucky enough to spot the more elusive Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, or Rose-breasted Grosbeak, you can log in your sighting at https://ebird.org, a website sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Check out this website to see how you can explore hotspots for birds, species maps, and a wealth of knowledge to fuel your passion for birding. The Merlin Bird ID app, at https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org, is an excellent site to use which offers both photo and sound ID features to help with bird species identification. Grab your binoculars and let your curiosity be your guide as you get out into nature this spring!
Another wonderful resource to tap into during spring bird migration season is found at https://dashboard.birdcast.info. You can enter the name of your county and pull up information on the number of birds that traveled overhead on the previous evening. You will be fascinated at how many thousands of birds migrate overnight on the Northern passageways between April and May on any given date. You can subscribe to alerts on particular bird species you are interested in, and delve into many different bird migration topics on the Birdcast site. This site is maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Grosbeak Photo: Bev Engstrom, Journal Sentinel
Great Horned Owl Photo:Karen Lloyd
Check out the accompanying photos. The majestic Great Horned Owl was seen last summer sitting on our patio chair right by my bird feeder in our Elm Grove backyard. The other photo captures a colorful Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I never cease to be amazed at the many different varieties of birds that inhabit our world, each of them offering their unique contribution to the Circle of Life.
Karen Lloyd - 2025
