ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — On the night of Monday, Aug. 17 into Tuesday, Aug. 18, an estimated 5,607,800 birds were in flight over Alabama at peak activity, according to BirdCast, the migration forecasting project that uses weather radar to track nocturnal bird movement.
Only about 2,982,500 of them made it all the way across the state that night.
That gap is the whole story of why Alabama matters to North American birds. Because so many migrants cannot cross the region in a single night, millions come down inside Alabama’s borders to rest and forage — which is why more birds are counted aloft over the state than exit it. The state’s forests, wetlands, rivers and coastal habitats function as a refueling network, and the Gulf Coast is the last stop before a long overwater crossing.
Alabama’s place on the flyway
Alabama sits along the Mississippi Flyway, one of four major migration corridors in North America, stretching from central Canada down to the Gulf. More than 325 bird species use the route. Nearly 40 percent of all North American waterfowl and shorebirds travel it every year.
Most fall migration traffic in this region runs from early September through October, with southbound birds heading toward wintering grounds along the Gulf and well beyond it. What is happening now is the leading edge.
What is moving through
Several species are likely to pass through coastal Alabama this fall, according to Conservation Alabama’s public awareness campaign.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are common early in the season — the ones emptying feeders right now are often birds that nested far to the north. Warblers move through Alabama’s forests in September and October, generally in mixed flocks and generally faster than birders would like. Swainson’s Thrushes and migrating hawks are also expected.
Three changes that help
Conservation Alabama is asking residents across the Gulf Coast region to make small adjustments at home during migration season.
Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights at night. Most songbirds migrate after dark and navigate partly by natural light cues. Artificial light disorients them, drawing birds off course and into buildings.
Plant native species. Native plants support the insects that migrating birds actually eat, and produce fruit on the schedule migrants are timed to. Ornamental non-natives frequently do neither.
Keep cats indoors. Outdoor and free-roaming cats are among the most significant direct threats birds face during migration, particularly when exhausted birds are on the ground refueling.
Why the habitat matters beyond the birds
Conservation Alabama notes that the case for protecting migration habitat does not rest on wildlife alone. The same lands that support migrating birds — river corridors, forests and coastal areas — also filter drinking water, buffer communities against storm surge and flooding, sustain local economies built on fishing and tourism, and provide the outdoor recreation that draws people to this part of the state in the first place.
For the next two months, they will also be full of birds.