How to track New Hampshire’s fall bird migration

Learn about six websites that make tracking New Hampshire’s fall bird migration easy.

Look up! As the days grow short and the weather turns cold Granite State birds head south where food is more abundant and the weather warmer. About 85% of the birds that breed in New Hampshire migrate. According to NH Audubon, some head to southern New England, and others as far as South America. The majority make the trip overnight and stay away for over six months. 

But you don’t have to be an expert bird enthusiast to track this celestial phenomenon. Many online and in-person resources provide real-time data on this autumnal avian journey from New Hampshire to warmer climates. Here are six that are worth checking out.

Birdcast

Up to 895,000 feathered creatures have been tracked passing New Hampshire in a single night according to Birdcast, a service sponsored by Cornell Labs and the University of Massachusetts. Its dashboard tool indicates how many birds flew over your home the previous night, their direction, and how fast and high they were traveling. It also provides a list and photographs of which nocturnally migrating species most likely arrive or depart your region at this time of year. For example, Southern New Hampshire residents are likely to see nighthawks, northern parula, eastern wood-pewee, bobolinks, and black-throated, bay-breasted, yellow, and magnolia warblers winging overhead right now.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System

This is a program of Birds Canada, which monitors birds worldwide, including those at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn. Migrants spotted at Massabesic include swanson thrushes, kestrels, veeries, and blackpoll warblers. All you have to do is visit the site to see which birds are migrating over Lake Massabesic each day.

The National Audubon Society’s Bird Migration Explorer

This online, interactive guide to “the heroic annual journeys” made by 450 bird species and the obstacles they encounter along the way. You can click on a photograph of any migrating species and a map shows paths of migration and other details specific to the bird’s travels south.

Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory

Located at the summit of Miller State Park in Peterborough, the observatory has been gathering hawk migration data for nearly 20 years. Experts there will help you look for and identify the thousands of hawks that pass by as they glide from thermal to thermal to save energy on their migration to South America. Sometimes dozens of the predators circle in formations called kettles. The observatory is operated by volunteers and is open through Nov. 20.  

The National Audubon Society’s Canada Goose Field Guide

This online guide provides migration and range maps of these honking migrators as well as detailed descriptions of their appearance and recordings of their songs and calls. As most New Hampshire residents know, Canada geese are among the largest migrants in these parts, and can often be seen in their V-formation as they launch heading south in the fall, and north in the spring to their home grounds — a sure Granite State sign of changing seasons. Even if you can’t see them, you can hear their distinctive honks back and forth as they depart at dusk and arrive at dawn.

According to the Nation Audubon Society, these birds were once a symbol of the wilderness and in fact, were almost extinct. Instead, they adapted to civilization, and that’s no longer the case. They’re all over the place in New Hampshire, nesting, flying, and, yes, pooping (a lot) in public parks, playgrounds, and ponds. Adults vary in size from 30 — 43 inches in length with 50 – 73-inch wingspans. The smallest ones — called cackling geese — are now considered a separate species.

Alltrails New Hampshire Birding Site

This site lists the state’s prime bird-watching, and hiking trails, providing trail maps, directions, trail descriptions, difficulty levels, and photographs taken by hikers themselves.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.