LITTLE ROCK — Hunters may be consumed with questions of when the ducks will arrive; avid birders know there’s more to migration than mallards. Songbirds, wading birds and a variety of other species constantly flow through The Natural State; many make their fall travel plans well before the temperature clues us humans into the changing seasons.
About two thirds of bird species in the United States migrate. Some meander a short distance to a more southerly climate or simply change altitudes on a mountainside, while others journey hundreds or thousands of miles.
Migration can be perilous – storms, predators, lack of habitat and collisions with obstacles. Birds aren’t on sightseeing excursions; they take on these risks when critical resources are in short supply. In the spring, this translates to nesting locations. The tropics are lovely over the winter, but many birds wing their way north to Arkansas and other locales in North America where there’s room to spread out and raise young along with fewer nest predators.
On the flip side, birds’ motivation for fall migration revolves mainly around food, or lack thereof. Species with petite beaks designed to capture insects or feed on nectar and fruits – vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, hummingbirds, orioles, swallows, and most warblers – fuel up and fly south from Arkansas before their main food sources become scarce.
For those feeling a bit blue about the end of summer and the departure of some of the state’s most colorful feathered creatures, take heart. The Natural State hosts an influx of birds, especially from more northern climates, that find our woods, wetlands, fields and prairies a wonderful winter stopover – waterfowl, eagles, gulls, sparrows, kinglets and wrens to name a few.
Most dickcissels migrate through and out of The Natural State in fall, preferring to winter in tropical Venezuela.
North American birds travel along four major superhighways in the sky during migration. These routes run along rivers, coastlines and mountains. Millions of birds traverse the Mississippi Flyway through Arkansas, which stretches 2,300 miles and spans 1.5 million square miles along North America’s greatest waterway.
In a world where we rely heavily on smartphones and other electronic gadgets to find our way, birds have us beat on navigation skills. These small, feathered creatures navigate so well that some may travel thousands of miles, through varied terrain and extreme weather, and are able to return to the same place where they were hatched.
People have puzzled over the coming and going of birds for centuries. Thanks to more widespread and updated field studies, such as bird banding and satellite tracking, we’re better informed on the complex methodology of migration.
More than 400 bird species may be seen in Arkansas throughout the seasons. Learning when they are coming and going can be overwhelming for a novice birder.
Bird nerds – both amateur and professional – flock to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website. Bird sightings, logged by citizen scientists from around the world, are distilled into data that is both useful for science and is enthralling for birders. Visit eBird.org/explore and check out the Bar Charts tab. Choose a region, such as Arkansas, and drill down even further to the county level to explore birds residing in your neck of the woods by month.
