This post has been edited on 2/19/21 to remove content featuring Jason Ward. Credible allegations of rape and sexual assault were brought against Jason Ward by Aisha White. You can learn more about this developing story in this article from Audubon that provides a summary of recent events. We stand with Aisha and admire her bravery in coming forward. In solidarity with Aisha, references and links to Jason’s work have been removed from this post.
Welcome back to the Entryway to Birding blog! Last week, I talked about how fall migration is going to be here before we know it. Shorebirds are certainly starting to show up, and by mid-August we’ll be seeing our warbler friends return to us as they pass through on their southbound journey.
If you’re just getting started with your first year of birding, the timing of these arrivals and departures can feel like a lot to grasp. Not only are you dealing with IDing field marks, learning bird calls, and figuring out where to find the birds you’re looking for, but you've got to keep track of when they’ll be here too?
Yeah, it’s a lot.
For a new birder, keeping track of all this can be overwhelming. How are you supposed to know what birds are on their way, and what birds are about to depart? What’s common and expected to stick around? What nests here? So many questions!
This week’s post has some resources—and helpful eBird tips and tricks!—to help you get a sense of the birding seasons.
These birds are just a small sample to illustrate the variety of Wisconsin’s seasons. From top left, moving across: Northern shrike, bald eagle on frozen lake, hermit thrush, solitary sandpiper, ruby-crowned kinglet, Nashville warbler, American redstart, American white pelicans, dickcissel, blue-winged teal, barred owl, snowy owl. All photos by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
The Birding Seasons
Lots of folks have written about the seasons of birding. Check out this great post, “Birdist Rule #10: Know What Birds Are Doing Each Month,” from Audubon’s The Birdist’s Rules of Birding column by birder Nick Lund. He lays out the highlights of each month from a birder’s perspective. Though keep in mind, everyone’s take on the birding seasons is going to be a little bit different, especially depending on where they are birding. You can tell that Nick’s opinion on March birding is a bit controversial—March birding in Wisconsin was stellar this year!
(Sidenote: If you aren’t following Nick Lund’s The Birdist website and blog, you should take a peek! He’s pretty funny, has great tips for beginning birders, and has excellent insight into birding culture.)
One of the best overall summaries for Wisconsin’s birding seasons that I’ve found is in this series of articles in Bird Watcher’s Digest, another great resource to have in your collection. Each article below has details on what species you can expect each season and the best spots in the state for your birding adventures!
Check it out:
Arrivals and Departures
One of the things that I felt a bit embarrassed about when I first started birding was my lack of knowledge about when I could find a certain species. I’d mention to someone that I’m looking for a certain bird, and they’d point out that it’s A) not the right time to see that bird, B) mention how small of a window of time I had to see it when it did show up, or C) mention that Dane County usually “only gets a few” and I’d need to focus my search.
One of the birds I really wanted to see was a lark sparrow. I just had to witness their cute lil’ clown faces in person. But I learned that Dane County sees relatively few of this sparrow species, so I’d have better luck in Sauk County. I took this photo at the Spring Green Nature Preserve, where lark sparrows can be found all summer long. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
On one hand, this is a good way to learn—I’ve helped build my mental birding calendar based on a lot of information I’ve picked up from other birders. But if you’re a new birder in the middle of a pandemic, you likely aren’t hanging out with other birders or going on field trips, and this can feel a little defeating.
Sibley’s breaks the range map into Winter, Summer, Year Round, Migration, and Rare, so you can get an idea of what season you may spot something, but it doesn’t get super specific. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt of her Sibley’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
If I’m reading a general field guide, like my trusty Sibley’s, it will show me a range map to help determine when and where I could expect to see a bird. But those timings can vary by locality—often widely! How does one get a better idea of what you might find in your own backyard, month by month?
I’ll give you one guess. (Hint: it starts with e and ends with bird!)
…
...
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Yep, there’s an eBird tool for that! (You totally didn’t see that coming, right?)
Click on the “Explore” page of eBird and scroll down. You’ll see several tools that help you explore sightings and find new birds. Why wasn’t I drawn to those pretty green graphics of the bar charts sooner?! I had no idea how useful this tool could be when I first started using eBird. Check it out for yourself! Screenshot from eBird.org
Bar Charts Are Your Friend
eBird’s bar charts are a hidden gem. Maybe other people already know all about them, but it kind of took me a while to figure out they existed. I used the Explore Species and Explore Hotspots feature all the time—as you can see in my past posts here and here. But I hadn’t been immediately drawn to the page simply titled “Bar Charts,” because let’s be honest—it doesn’t sound super-duper thrilling.
But oh, friends! I was wrong. It is cool and you will LOVE how quickly it can help you get a sense of your county’s birding seasons.
Screenshot from eBird.org
How does it work? Simply go to the Bar Charts page, enter the region (a state, a county, a hotspot) you’d like to see data for, and select a range of time to pull data from. What will pop out is a handy chart that shows you all the species found in that region during that time range, displayed in a series of bar charts that shows you the frequency of a bird through the year.
You can easily see when something starts to arrive in August with a few sightings (a shorter bar on the chart), then peaks in September with a much thicker bar. You can see the months where you’re unlikely to see that species at all in comparison to months when it’s very common.
All of this shows up at a quick glance! You can scroll through the species to get a visual guide to what comes and goes, and what timing you should be paying attention to if you’re planning to seek out that species. Each month has four bars, so you can even pinpoint which week of the month you might have to mark on your calendar!
This is just a screenshot from a long list of species—this is part of the waterfowl section—that have been recorded in Dane County. Notice how you can get a quick idea of what sticks around all year (mallards, wood duck), and what is common through the fall and winter (canvasback, redhead) based on the thicker bar that indicates more sightings, and what may show up but in low numbers (northern pintail) based on the thinner bar that indicates fewer sightings. Screenshot from eBird.org
How cool is that?!
This is a fun feature because it’s so easy to tailor, too. You can set your “region” to be an entire county, or you could just choose a single hotspot. If there is one place you bird regularly (aka your “patch”) you can pull up that hotspot and get data just for that location. So if you’re curious when the first warblers may be returning to Cherokee North this fall, the data will show you—based on previous years—when they are likely to arrive, so you can be ready and waiting for them.
But remember …
There are no guarantees in birding! Even though eBird suggests that so-and-so may be arriving back in town around mid-August, that timing can change year to year. There may be years when some species that we hope to see don’t make it to our area at all.
A pine siskin perches on a branch at the UW-Arboretum. These little fellas didn’t come down to Dane County in great numbers this most recent winter. Photo by Brandyn Kerscher
Last winter, for instance, everyone was awaiting the arrivals of winter birds like common redpolls and pine siskin. But Dane County had very few, if any, sightings of these species. Why not? It could be because food was more plentiful up north and they may not have needed to travel so far south. When we do see larger numbers of these winter birds, it’s called an irruption.
An irruption can happen for many complex reasons, but often it’s because in one season, the food up north was really plentiful and the birds had a successful year. The next year, the food supply may not have been as good to support a new population of birds, so more of them would have to travel further south in search of food—resulting in an irruption. (This is simplifying the concept a bit because there are more factors at play, like climate change, but it gives you an idea of why the arrival of some species may not be consistent year to year.)
I’m crossing my fingers that those common redpolls and pine siskins will show up this year. I didn’t get to see them in my first winter of birding and they would both be lifers!
As our summer season continues with these high temps and high humidity, I’ve found that I haven’t been birding as regularly as I do in other seasons. I’m mostly continuing to bird by bike and submit incidental checklists to eBird when I see something I think is neat. Summer birding may not be as edge-of-the-seat as May’s, but it still brings some fun sightings. And all that time you aren’t out birding and exploring? You can be studying up and ready for fall when it gets here!
The other day, I was out on the Military Ridge Bike Trail and had to hit the brakes! A black-billed cuckoo had flown right in front of me on the path, then perched nearby in some brush. I was so grateful I had my binoculars, since I got a great looks at a species that I see very rarely! I didn’t get a picture of the cuckoo, but I did take some shots of the gorgeous landscape seen from the Military Ridge trail, pictured here. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
For a new birder, taking the time to learn about what’s expected—and when it’s expected—in your area is really useful. It will not only help you plan your upcoming birding adventures, but it can unexpectedly aid in your ID skills! If you’re waffling between an ID on a bird, but know that a certain species is not common during this season, you can probably eliminate that ID from your list.
So sit back, enjoy a lemonade in the shade, and sip while you scroll through some thrilling bar charts (oh yes, they are exciting!) to get a better idea of what will be moving your way soon.
Stay cool out there. Happy birding!
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Caitlyn is the Communications and Outreach Assistant at Madison Audubon. She’s crazy for birds because they changed her life. She’ll be back next Monday with some tips and tools for birders, new and experienced! Between now and then, she’d love to hear about the birds you’re seeing and hearing. Leave a comment below or email to drop her a line!
