Peak bird migration has arrived in Alabama: An ‘egg-sighting’ season
Reading time: 5 minutes
Autumn has fallen upon us, bringing with it ‘beak’ bird migration season. It seems we’ve waited ‘owl’ season to observe the movement of billions of birds through American airspace.
Keep reading to learn more about fall migration, tips for birders + more!
A bird’s-eye view of migration
On the average fall night during peak migration season, BirdCast records about 400 million birds in flight above the United States, all flying at the same time.
To see how many birds are currently in flight above Alabama, you can check out this website showing Alabama’s live bird migration traffic.
As birds in the U.S. make trips to either southern states or to the Carribean, Central America + South America, the best times to bird-watch are 30 minutes prior to sunrise to mid-morning.
However, not all birds migrate south at the same time of the year. Shorebirds typically migrate earlier, while land-birds migrate later in the fall season.
Check out these locations for optimal bird-watching:
- Pine Beach Trail
- Location: 1609 Mobile St, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
- Marbout’s Bend
- Buck Island Rd, Elkmont, AL 35620
- The University of Alabama Arboretum
- 4801 Arboretum Way, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404
- Demopolis River Walk
- 130 Yacht Basin Dr, Demopolis, AL 36732
- Kreher Preserve & Nature Center
- 2222 N College St, Auburn, AL 36830
- Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve
- 1214 81st St S, Birmingham, AL 35206
- Historic Blakeley State Park
- 34745 AL-225, Spanish Fort, AL 36527
Shining light on a largely unrecognized threat to migration
As birds largely migrate under the cover of darkness, a threat to our friends in flight is the light pollution we produce. An estimated 365 – 988 million birds die by colliding with buildings annually.
Here are some guidelines created by BirdCast:
- Turn off non-essential lights from 11PM until 6AM during critical migration periods.
- Turn off or dim interior home lighting, or draw blinds to prevent light escaping.
- Be sure your outside lights are aimed downwards + well-shielded
- Install motion sensors on outside lights to minimize use
- Use warm light sources
- Turn off lights before you leave home or your office
People can also purchase subtle, inexpensive decals to attach to their windows that will reduce the risk of bird collisions.
A little birdie told us: Talking birding with an expert
Barry Fleming, an Alabama birder, is a board member for the Alabama Audubon Society + leads groups on bird-watching trips.
In 1988, Fleming served as the first exhibition director at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. Following his work with the museum, Fleming taught painting, drawing + ceramics classes at Auburn until 2022.
Growing up, Fleming was an avid naturalist — spending his time in the woods, fishing + exploring in Tennessee. One day, high-school Fleming was sitting on a branch when something caught his eye: a gray bird with a white belly, big red eye + a black crown on its head, with long, white plumes.
“The biggest act of resistance one can have is to educate yourself. So I thought, ‘I bet you they got a bird book down at the library.”
~ Barry Fleming, a life member of the Alabama Ornithological Society
Once he checked out a bird book at Henderson Public Library, Fleming identified the bird as a Black-crowned Night Heron. It was from there that his fascination with birding grew — steadily improving his identification of birds in the field.
While studying bird books are an important aspect of birding, it’s important to supplement it with practical application.
“People look in field guides, and they think you’re supposed to look at the head and memorize the patterns — and that’s a big part of it. But field experience can’t be beat, because you see them in the field, in 3D, and in relation to other things size-wise, and you start putting that stored memory in there … It’s going to come up, and you’re going to say the name of the bird before you can even think about it.”
~ Barry Fleming, a life member of the Alabama Ornithological Society
The part that requires much practice, asserted Fleming, is the use of binoculars.
“It takes a while for it to become natural, like driving a car, where you don’t really think about where your hands are, but bird watching is the same thing with the tools.”
~ Barry Fleming, a life member of the Alabama Ornithological Society
When birding, Fleming believes it’s important to notice the status + distribution of birds.
“How common are they and in what habitat? What are their needs? What do they call their home range or their ranges? … They’ll often have field guides that show their summer range, their breeding range, their winter range.”
~ Barry Fleming, a life member of the Alabama Ornithological Society
Fleming and other birders utilize an app called eBird, an international database that people can use to track all the birds they come across + record the birds’ locations for others to see.
Fleming also suggested watching an episode of the Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper, in which Cooper travels to Alabama to bird-watch — even making a trip to Auburn University’s Raptor Center to meet Independence, Auburn’s honorary War Eagle.
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