9 May 2026
Here are just a few of the birds Charity Kheshgi and I saw this week in Ohio. More to come in the days ahead! It’s time to get outdoors.
p.s. The black-capped chickadee is non-migratory but he still counts. 😉
5 May 2026
Today we’re on our way to Magee Marsh, Ohio where we’ll be birding early before The Biggest Week in American Birding begins 8-17 May 2026. It truly is the “Biggest Week” as it draws 80,000 to 90,000 visitors to the area each year.
The colors on this eBird Hotspot map show why it’s such a popular birding place. The redder the color, the more species seen. The hottest spot of all (center of the map) is Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ottawa County where 305 species have been recorded. Magee Marsh Boardwalk is close behind with 276 species.
It’s the “Warbler Capital of the World” though only four warbler species breed in Ohio’s marshes: Prothonotary warbler, common yellowthroat, northern yellow warbler (recently split), and occasionally black-and-white warbler.
This year’s Biggest Week’s cover bird is the hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina), a bird so rare at Magee Marsh Boardwalk that if one shows up it causes a stampede.
Hooded warblers occur in northwestern Ohio (see my faint orange circle on the map below) but are more readily seen in western Pennsylvania (darker purple). They are rare at the Boardwalk because they prefer thick shrubby areas in forest understory, not open marsh habitat with sparse woodlots.
Some formerly rare birds are now more common. Prior to 2010 American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) were very rare flyover birds. Now they are present every year.
Their official range map (left) still has them absent east of the Mississippi but observations and breeding records show some in northwestern Ohio. American white pelicans now breed on Turning Point Island in Sandusky Bay and many stop over on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada (righthand map).
The forecast for northwestern Ohio calls for chilly cloudy weather and rain while we’re there. I might need this video “warbler fix” by the time I’m done. (I also posted this video last year.)
29 April 2026
Nine days ago I saw the first tentworms on a small choke cherry tree at Raccoon Wildflower Preserve. Since then I expected tents to appear on many trees and am disappointed that they haven’t yet. When they do, yellow-billed cuckoos won’t be far behind.
Eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) are native moths whose mother lays a big batch of eggs on a host tree in the Rosaceae family. The tiny caterpillars form inside the eggs and overwinter until next spring when the tree starts to leaf out. The growing caterpillars emerge and build a communal tent where they shelter during the day. At night they come out to eat the leaves of their host — usually a cherry tree.
Tent caterpillars are delicious to birds and a special favorite of yellow-billed cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus) who are one of the few bird species able to eat hairy caterpillars. Yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos show up in Pittsburgh when the tentworms do.
The population of tentworms flutuates year to year — from not-so-much to “infestation” — and yellow-billed cuckoos take advantage of this. The cuckoos are nomadic and choose to nest in areas with hairy caterpillar outbreaks, according to the study Invasive Prey Impacts the Abundance and Distribution of Native Predators.
Other birds also take advantage of abundant tentworms. Baltimore orioles eat tentworms.
Blue-gray gnatcatchers use the webbing to bind their nests together.
If you have tentworms in your trees, be patient and let the birds get rid of them. Don’t poison the insects with pesticides lest you poison birds or deprive their nestlings of food.
Meanwhile I’m hoping to find more tentworms soon. Unfortunately the weather will be cold and rainy for the next three days including lows in the 30s. 🙁
17 April 2026
Do you need a break from stress and pressure? This 4-minute video will sooth your day.
Listen to the special songs we hear in southwestern Pennsylvania in mid-April as migratory birds sing on their way north. Recorded by Lesley the Bird Nerd in late May or very early June 2025 in Ontario, Canada, the singers have arrived at their destination. (Note: American crow is always here; bluejay is silent in the video.)
I used Merlin to confirm the songs and listed the species’ current status in our area.
Note that Merlin does not acknowledge songs that “cannot occur” at the location where it is listening so there may be additional birds that I cannot hear and Merlin is ignoring.
Bonus information:
Why is birdsong so soothing? See 5 reasons why.
For instance, a study in 2022 investigated the effect of urban (traffic noise) vs. natural (birdsongs) soundscapes on mood, anxiety, paranoia.
295 participants were exposed to one out of four conditions for 6 minutes: traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes. Before and after the exposure, participants performed a [cognitive] task and filled out depression, anxiety, and paranoia questionnaires. The traffic noise soundscapes were associated with a significant increase in depression… Concerning the birdsong conditions, depression exclusively decreased after exposure to the high diversity soundscape. Anxiety and paranoia significantly decreased in both birdsong conditions [low and high].
— Nature: Birdsongs alleviate anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants
16 April 2026
Who’s singing now? In mid April we hear the usual suspects — American robin, northern cardinal, house finch, song sparrow — but there are new additions to the soundscape.
Ruby-crowned kinglets (Corthylio calendula) are passing through for a couple of weeks on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada.
They’re almost hyper-active as they flit and flutter to glean insects, making “jit” contact calls and pausing to belt out their rolling song. Sometimes they sing when challenging another kinglet, in which case they both raise their ruby crowns (photo at top).
Did you know that ruby-crowns are not closely related to other the kinglets? In 2021 they were moved to a genus of their own.
Chipping sparrows (Spizella passerina) are back in town and singing their dry, rapid trill from prominent perches in the trees.
When you hear the song, look for a sparrow with a rusty cap, eyeline and clear breast. He’s smaller than a song sparrow.
Eastern towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) leave southwestern Pennsylvania for the winter so it’s a sure sign of spring when we hear “che-wink” and “Drink Your Teaeeeeee” coming from the thickets.
The male towhee perches prominently when he sings. The female tends to skulk.
Their songs may have regional accents. The recording by Aidan Place in 2020, below, is typical of the rapid condensed song we hear at Frick Park. It’s different from the one in Ontario above.
Some northern flickers (Colaptes auratus) are here year round but they’re not noticeable until spring when they hammer loudly and call like a “Jungle Bird.”
Loud is Good. Metal is the best.
p.s. The flicker in the video looks different from ours because he’s the red-shafted subspecies found in western North America. (This one is in Vancouver, BC, Canada.) The top of the bird is similar to our yellow-shafted flicker except for face and red moustache. However the underside is red where ours are yellow. Click here to see.
8 April 2026
Tonight’s weather looks encouraging for bird migration over southwestern Pennsylvania. BirdCast’s forecast map shows them streaming from Texas to upstate New York along the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Oh boy! We’ll see new birds tomorrow.
The expected woodland migrants are the same species as last week, but with one addition. Fox sparrows and golden-crowned kinglets are on their last big push through the area, the warblers are here to breed, and the blue-headed vireo is not expected yet but has already arrived in Pittsburgh’s East End.
Other expected migrants include horned grebes and 7 duck species — lesser scaup, ring-necked duck, hooded merganser, red-breasted merganser, blue-winged teal and bufflehead. This year most of the ducks are passing through without stopping, so I felt lucky to see a pair of buffleheads at Duck Hollow yesterday.
Check out Birdcast’s Migration Dashboard for Allegheny County for statistics and the ever-changing list of expected birds.
2 April 2026
Now that it’s early April a whole new set of birds is expected to arrive on migration. Here are three woodland birds to look for this coming week.
Louisiana waterthrushes (Parkesia motacilla), pictured at top, first arrived in southwestern Pennsylvania on Monday 30 March, basically right on time. They were reported in at least seven locations 30-31 March but eBird considers them “rare” until 1 April so all of those March sightings generated Rare Bird Alerts.
Watch for a sparrow-sized bird with bubblegum pink legs that walks along the edges of babbling creeks. While it walks it keeps its tail cocked up and bobs the back end of its body as well as its tail. Listen for its song; click here to watch it singing.
Yellow-throated warblers (Setophaga dominica) aren’t here yet but it’s only a matter of days. They were reported in Bridgeport and Elkins, West Virginia on 30-31 March. Look for them high in sycamore trees along creeks and rivers. Unlike most warblers this one stays high in the trees and walks the largest branches. It is relatively slow moving compared to an American redstart, but then redstarts are almost frantic.
Not really new but easier to find this week, a handful of golden-crowned kinglets (Regulus satrapa) have been in southwestern Pennsylvania all winter but the first big push of migrants arrived in the third week of March, around the time of the Spring Equinox. This week the Merlin app hears a golden-crowned kinglet whenever I’m out birding (I can’t hear them.)
24 March 2026
Snow goose migration is a huge spectacle in February and March along the Illinois River from Havana north to Peoria. Numbers have grown as the migratory population concentrates at Emiquon and Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuges.
Here’s the count of just one flock on the lake at Chautauqua NWR on 27 Feb 2026 at 12:24pm. This does not include all the other flocks feeding in the fields and resting at Emiquon.
500,000 Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens). Huge and loud flock – Winks’ Estimate – he counted by 10k then got to 100k and then 5x that. Still a likely underestimate because many were coming in and not many leaving.
— Species comment on Pete Fenner ebird checklist, 27 Feb 2026, 12:24pm
The spectacle was so huge that it made Chicago news.
There was a time when I used to go to Pennsylvania’s Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area every spring to see the snow goose spectacle when 100,000 snow geese would rise from the lake all at once. At its peak Middle Creek Wildlife counted 200,000 snow geese in February 2018.
But lately the count there has been going down. This year’s peak was 65,000 snow geese around February 24-25. Middle Creek’s migratory population has decreased for several reasons, one of which is intentional.
At this point it looks like the snow goose total in the Atlantic Flyway has reached 500,000. If so, the hunt will stop.
Snow goose numbers ebb and flow. A low count in PA isn’t bad when there are 10 times that number in Illinois.
13 March 2026
Spring songbird migration has barely begun but some sparrows already arrived. Here are 15 sparrow songs to look forward to.
Pittsburghers: My table below the video tells you when they’ll arrive in southwestern Pennsylvania. Fingers crossed for a fox sparrow soon.
| video# | Species | Occurrence in southwestern PA | Present in SW PA as of 12 Mar 2026? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Song Sparrow | Resident | yes. present and singing |
| 2 | White-throated Sparrow | Migrates through in spring & fall | yes and singing |
| 3 | White-crowned sparrow | unusual. Migrates through in small numbers in May | not yet |
| 4 | Field sparrow | Found in grasslands, not suburbs or cities | not yet |
| 5 | Dark-eyed junco | Migrates through in spring & fall | yes and singing |
| 6 | Bachman's sparrow | no. in southeastern US. Near Threatened | --- |
| 7 | Chipping sparrow | Breeds in SW PA. Arrives in April | not yet |
| 8 | Fox sparrow | Migrates through in spring & fall | Expected any day now |
| 9 | Grasshopper sparrow | Found in grasslands, not suburbs or cities | not yet |
| 10 | Black-throated sparrow | -- not here. Seen in western and southwestern U.S | --- |
| 11 | Eastern towhee | Breeds in SW PA. Arrives in late March, April | Expected soon |
| 12 | Green-tailed towhee | -- not here. Seen in western and southwestern U.S | --- |
| 13 | Spotted towhee | -- not here. Seen from west coast to Illinois | --- |
| 14 | Rufous-winged sparrow | -- not here. Seen from southern Arizona to western Mexico (not in Baja) | --- |
| 15 | Lincoln's sparrow | unusual. Migrates through in small numbers in May | not yet |
12 March 2026
Phenology is the study of the times when natural phenomena recur throughout the year.
At the beginning of this century, before the Internet was so accessible, Chuck Tague wrote a bi-monthly paper newsletter called The Nature Observer News that listed outings, nature club meetings, and what to expect outdoors in the upcoming half of the month.
In 2008-2009 I collaborated with Chuck to post a phenology for Western Pennsylvania based on his articles in The Nature Observer News. He created the lists about 20 years ago from his observations at the time. Since then our climate has gotten warmer and some nature events occur earlier than they used to, enough to jog them a half-month.
Thinking about what you’ve seen in recent weeks, have any of these nature events moved backward to a prior half-month? Are they all on time this spring?
I’ve marked the differences I’ve seen with an (X) and descriptions at the end.
Phenology (20 years ago) for LATE FEBRUARY
Phenology (20 years ago) for EARLY MARCH
Phenology (20 years ago) for LATE MARCH
Changing Expectations of Spring: Then and Now
Here are the discrepancies I’ve seen in the past few weeks.
