Statewide birding report

STATEWIDE BIRDING REPORT AS OF SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 

After a brief and unusual mid-month lull, birding activity picked up greatly this past week at many locations statewide. Warblers made a welcome resurgence with most species being seen again in good numbers. Diversity was best in the south, while northern birders noted an abundance of yellow-rumped and palm warblers, many gleaning insects off sunlit lawns and homesteads. Other warm weather birds like vireos, tanagers, flycatchers, orioles, nighthawks, whip-poor-wills, and cuckoos are down to just a few lingering migrants. Ruby-throated hummingbirds have largely departed the north but will remain in the south for another week or two. Continue to offer and maintain your feeder as this will help later migrants and not discourage the birds from migrating.

The transition to later migrants typical of the cool season is well underway. Sparrows are surging up north with large numbers of white-throated, swamp, song, and Lincoln’s, as well as a few white-crowned, chipping, savannah, and the first fox sparrows. Keep an eye out for the less common Harris’s sparrow, especially in western Wisconsin. Dark-eyed juncos have been seen statewide now and numbers are building in the north woods. Statewide, birders are finding both ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, northern flickers, increasing numbers of American robins, and some rusty blackbirds alongside common grackles and red-winged blackbirds. Open fields and shorelines are now hosting a few American pipits, Lapland longspurs, and horned larks, while blue jays and cedar waxwings are prevalent in many locations.

As purple finches and red-breasted nuthatches continue to show better than usual statewide, pine siskins are making a surge into the state, especially in the north but even as far south as Milwaukee, and some are visiting feeders already, both signs that it could be a good winter for viewing these species. The 2020 Winter Finch Forecast was recently released and suggests redpolls may also brighten the winter landscape this year. Overhead, broad-winged hawks have peaked and many but not all are now south of Wisconsin. Late September and early October are a great time to look for migrating merlins and peregrines falcons, especially along the Lake Michigan shore when winds are out of the southwest. Other raptors like sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks, American kestrels, northern harriers, and ospreys may also be seen. 

Waterbird migration is at a crossroads this time of year. Shorebird migration is waning, although diversity remains good at suitable habitat and numbers for some species can remain decent through mid-October. Greater and lesser yellowlegs, black-bellied and American golden-plovers, sanderling, long-billed dowitcher, Wilson’s snipe, and American woodcock are a few of the species moving through now. Meanwhile, goose and duck migration is slowly building. Look for blue-winged and green-winged teal, northern pintail, American wigeon, wood ducks, and other dabblers at lakes and wetlands. Divers generally come later, though small numbers are already being seen. Common and Forster’s terns are departing now, while Bonaparte’s gulls have a somewhat protracted migration through the fall.

Rare birds spotted since our last report include Eurasian wigeon in Marathon, an ibis species in Oconto, parasitic jaegers and Sabine’s gulls in both Douglas and Jefferson, and yellow-crowned night-heron and black-bellied whistling ducks in La Crosse, the latter including a brood of ducklings that furnish the first-ever documented nesting of a whistling duck in Wisconsin. After a mild weekend, next week looks cooler with intermittent rain chances and frequent west winds, which are generally favorable for migration. Expect a continued shift from warm weather to cold weather birds statewide and especially in the north. Find out what others are seeing and report your finds at www.ebird.org/wi. Good birding! 

– Ryan Brady, DNR Natural Heritage Conservation Program biologist