by Lydia Holley September 18, 2023
If you feed the hummingbirds, you may have noticed more of them lately at your feeders. They are beginning to migrate southward and appreciate having a snack along the way. The number of hummingbirds at your feeders may double, triple, or even quadruple during this time. Additional feeders may be required to feed them all. Since they fight each other for a drink, you may also want to place any additional feeders where they can not be seen from the others. This will help keep the fights to a minimum and allow some to feed in peace.
In addition to hummingbirds, many other birds migrate southward before the start of winter. BirdCast is a website devoted to the migration patterns of birds. It is sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst, along with other core funders, supporters, and partners.
BirdCast shows live bird migration maps with the number per million of birds in flight. Right now throughout the contiguous U.S., about 700 million birds are in flight per night. This number, of course, changes with the birds’ flight patterns. It is easy to type your county into the migration dashboard search. Instantly, you will be provided with data about the number of birds migrating through your county.
For instance, on September 16, over three million birds passed over Henderson County, with an altitude reaching 3,500 ft. Over the last one and a half months, over 31 million birds have passed over Henderson County, with much more expected.
Not all of these are hummingbirds, of course. While some birds roost at night and fly during the day, many birds migrate at night. Some of the birds migrating at this time of the year during the nighttime hours include Black Tern, Blue-winged Teal, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Lark Sparrow, Least Sandpiper, Little Blue Heron, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Solitary Sandpiper, Summer Tanager, Wilson’s Warbler, and Yellow Warbler. BirdCast reminds us that turning off any unnecessary outside lighting will help these birds stay on course.
For more information, call 903-675-6130, email [email protected].
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HCmastergardener.