Songbird migration in full force - and they could use your help!
Millions of songbirds on the move; Food, water and shelter are keys to luring feathered friends; Live online chat set for noon Sept. 12 with DNR birding experts
News Release Published: September 5, 2013 by the Central Office
Contact(s): Ryan Brady, 715-685-2933; Kim Grveles, 608-264-8594
Editor’s note: A live online chat with DNR bird experts about the fall migration is set for Sept. 12 at noon. To participate, visit the DNR home page and look for the advertisement to enter the chat, or search the phrase "ask the experts." Or join the conversation via our Facebook page.Click the “Cover it Live Chat” box at the top of the Facebook page.
ASHLAND - Songbirds are next up in the parade of migratory birds to stop in Wisconsin this late summer and fall as they fuel up and rest before heading south.
Bird lovers don’t have to go far to see or hear the birds as many backyards offer good viewing, especially if residents create bird habitat by providing the essentials of food, water and shelter, state birding experts say.
“Following the shorebirds of late summer, millions of songbirds comprising dozens of species represent the second large wave of migrants and they’re now on the move,” says Ryan Brady, a Department of Natural Resources wildlife research scientist who leads bird monitoring efforts.
Songbirds often ride northerly winds behind cold weather fronts en route to wintering grounds thousands of miles to the south, so recent fronts brought greater numbers of warblers, thrushes, grosbeaks and vireos. That trend that should continue in the weeks ahead – mid-September typically features the greatest abundance and diversity of migrating songbirds across the state, Brady says.
Helping provide food, water and shelter for the flight
Having nested anywhere from Wisconsin north through the Canadian boreal forest, these long distance, neo-tropical migrants – including such familiar friends as Baltimore orioles, ruby-throated hummingbirds, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks – face many challenges en route to wintering areas in the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America, Brady says.
“We all have opportunity to lend the birds a hand in that journey,” Brady says. “The beauty of songbird migration is that it’s an event that can be experienced anywhere from the backyard to the field.”
The majority of birds migrating through Wisconsin backyards at this time of year do not frequent feeders, instead focus on natural food sources such as native plant seeds, insects, berries and fruits.
Bird lovers who aren’t seeing and hearing songbirds close to home can help change that, says Kim Grveles, a DNR avian ecologist who coordinates the Wisconsin Stopover Initiative. There are many things people can do on their property and in their communities to help provide stopover sites to benefit birds and bring more of them to their property.
Preserving and planting native trees and shrubs rank high on the list. Fruiting shrubs and trees are magnets for bird activity, attracting not only fruit-eating birds like waxwings, grosbeaks, tanagers and thrushes but also insect-eaters such as vireos, warblers and flycatchers, she says. “Many experienced birdwatchers train their eyes and binoculars on these fruiting trees, knowing that birds will likely come to them.”
Water features are also popular among birds. In the field, stream corridors, lakeshores, ponds and other wetlands offer gathering spots for birds. Close to home, birders can attract a tremendous variety of songbirds and other feathered friends – many that would never come to a bird feeder – by providing bird baths, fountains, misters and other water sources. The sound of trickling water is especially attractive to many species, Brady says.
Minimizing window collisions, keeping cats indoors, removing invasive plant species, creating brushpiles – the list for easy ways to help migratory birds is long. Find links to lists of plants to use and more steps to help birds on the “What you can do” page of the Wisconsin Stopover Initiative website.
The Wisconsin Stopover Initiative, launched in 2005, aims to place protection of migratory stopover sites, particularly along the Great Lakes where migratory birds are highly concentrated, in the forefront of conservation. Loss of stopover habitats poses an ongoing threat to the health and stability of migratory bird populations in the Great Lakes region, says Grveles. Founded by DNR and The Nature Conservancy, with funding from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and State Wildlife Grants, the initiative's goals are to protect 30,000 acres of critical stopover habitat in the Lake Michigan basin and 6,000 acres in the Lake Superior basin over the next decade.
Read more about bird migrations and the Wisconsin Stopover Initiative in the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine story,"Respites for Migratory Birds, Saving Great Lakes stopover sites."
Sign up for the DNR birding report
Sign up for DNR’s free birding report, a summary of what birds are being seen around Wisconsin and what species to look for in coming weeks. Visit the DNR home page and search “birding.” Click on the red envelope on the right hand column to sign up for free email or mobile updates.