A YEAR OF BIRDS

Click on each month to explore migration timing and seasonal patterns, including some species that are less common but regularly appear.

January

Song Sparrows and a few other resident species begin singing.
Although no major migrations are occurring, you may observe flocks of birds, such as American Robins and mergansers, moving locally as they search for productive feeding areas.
Waterbirds such as ducks, loons, grebes, alcids, and cormorants can be abundant.
Various sparrow species gather in and around brambles at the edges of open habitats.
Overwintering Yellow-rumped Warblers are often found in Pacific Wax Myrtle shrubs, where the persistent berries provide an important winter food source.
In irruption years, watch for large flocks of Pine Siskins flying over or feeding in Red Alders.
Chickadees, kinglets, nuthatches, Hutton’s Vireos, and a few other species are often seen foraging together in mixed-species flocks.
This can be a good time to hear owls, as they might be courting or establishing territories.
Great Horned Owls begin nesting.

More Red-winged Blackbirds appear at wetlands to establish territories.
Resident species like Brown Creepers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Hutton’s Vireos, Bewick’s Wrens, Pacific Wrens, and Song Sparrows are singing.
Some cormorants are attaining their breeding plumage.
Anna’s Hummingbirds may start incubating eggs by the end of the month.
Watch for resident Common Ravens and Bald Eagles carrying nesting material.

American Robins and Varied Thrushes begin singing.
Some duck species depart for breeding grounds.
Rufous Hummingbirds return as red-flowering currants and salmonberries blossom.
Migrating Snow Geese may be heard flying high overhead.
Horned Grebes and Red-necked Grebes are transitioning into the striking breeding plumage that reflects their names.
Great Blue Herons return to their rookeries.
Turkey Vultures pass through.
Band-tailed Pigeons return around mid-month, joining a few that overwintered.
Purple Finches and White-crowned Sparrows begin singing around mid-month.
Near the end of the month, Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers begin singing, and Violet-green Swallows return.

Spring migration intensifies.
More ducks are departing.
Migrating Greater White-fronted and Cackling Geese may be heard flying high overhead.
Orange-crowned Warblers arrive as the Bigleaf Maples burst into bloom.
Hermit Thrushes, which will soon continue to their breeding grounds, are more numerous and may be heard singing.
More Brant gather on Puget Sound as a stopover during their migration north.
Starting around mid-month, watch for migrating hawks.
A few Chipping Sparrows pass through for most of the month.

Approximate return dates:

5th: Savannah Sparrows

10th: Purple Martins, Caspian Terns, Osprey

16th: Brown-headed Cowbirds

18th: American Goldfinches

19th: Barn Swallows

20th: Pacific-slope Flycatchers and Black-throated Gray Warblers

26th: Wilson's Warblers

The highest species diversity likely occurs around the beginning of the month.
Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, and Wilson's Warblers arrive during the first week.
Most Swainson's Thrushes, Olive-sided Flycatchers, and Warbling Vireos arrive around May 10th.
The only gulls around are the resident Glaucous-winged Gulls.
Cedar Waxwings arrive later in the month.
Some resident songbirds have already raised one brood and may be preparing for another.
Keep an eye out for uncommon but regular migratory visitors, such as Western Kingbirds, Bullock's Orioles, and Lazuli Buntings.

Peak of the breeding season.
Newly fledged songbirds and their begging calls are common.
The sound of singing Swainson's Thrushes fills the forest understory.
Keep an eye to the sky for uncommon migratory visitors, such as Common Nighthawks and Black Swifts.

"Fall" migration heats up.
Neotropical migrants that bred here become increasingly hard to find.
This is a good time to spot Western and Least Sandpipers.
More waterbirds, including grebes, cormorants, and ducks, return.
At night, listen for the flight calls of migrating Swainson's Thrushes.
Red-necked Phalaropes sometimes gather on rip currents from late August to mid-September at Fay Bainbridge.

A busy time with a mix of departing summer migrants and arriving winter residents.
Most neotropical migrants are gone by mid-September.
Many local eagles shift locations to follow food sources, particularly spawning salmon, which are a primary draw for them in nearby areas.
Horned Grebes, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Hermit Thrushes return.
This is a good time of year to look for Common Terns and Parasitic Jaegers.
Purple Martins are departing.
Later in the month, listen for migrating Cackling and Greater White-fronted Geese; occasionally, a few will land and join flocks of Canada Geese.
Most Ospreys have departed by the end of the month.

More arriving winter residents and a variety of late-departing summer migrants.
After spending much of the summer spread out across breeding territories, many species now congregate around food sources.
After a dip in numbers during August and September, large flocks of American Robins arrive just as Pacific Madrone berries ripen.
Red-winged Blackbirds gather in farm fields to feed on sunflower seeds and other available grains.
Pacific Wrens, which may have left to breed in larger montane forests, return and join those that stayed to breed locally.
Hermit Thrushes and Northern Saw-whet Owls return and/or pass through.
On sunny days in early October, watch the sky for kettles of migrating Turkey Vultures.
Migrating Snow Geese may be heard flying high overhead.
Buffleheads start to return at the end of the month.

As the days grow darker and wetter, more ducks arrive. Mergansers are abundant by early in the month, with goldeneyes showing up around mid-month.
American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, European Starlings, Purple Finches, and other birds often gather at fruiting Pacific Madrones, occasionally drawing the attention of Merlins and Cooper's Hawks.
At times, dozens of House Finches can be seen gathered in rose bushes, feeding on the seeds within the rose hips.
Throughout fall and winter, the tinkling calls of Golden-crowned Kinglets often dominate the soundscape of our forests.
More Varied Thrushes, often foraging on the ground, arrive as snow accumulates in the mountains.
By the end of the month, wintering bird populations have settled in and become fairly stable.
This is a great time to look for Ancient Murrelets and Snow Buntings. You might also hear the calls of migrating Trumpeter and Tundra Swans flying overhead.

Although no major migrations are occurring, you may observe flocks of birds, such as American Robins and mergansers, moving locally as they search for productive feeding areas.
Waterbirds such as ducks, loons, grebes, alcids, and cormorants can be abundant.
Various sparrow species gather in and around brambles at the edges of open habitats.
Overwintering Yellow-rumped Warblers are often found in Pacific Wax Myrtle shrubs, where the persistent berries provide an important winter food source.
In irruption years, watch for large flocks of Pine Siskins flying over or feeding in Red Alders.
Chickadees, kinglets, nuthatches, Hutton’s Vireos, and a few other species are often seen foraging together in mixed-species flocks.
This can be a good time to hear owls, as they might be courting or establishing territories.

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