In the times of self-isolation and quarantine, thousands of people are spending time alone in their houses. Some started using this time to cook delicious dishes at home while others are trying to connect to nature. Many people are able to connect to nature, birds, and animals in this free time. In addition to watching the favorite series on Netflix, and video calling your friends and family, many have also started watching birds fly in the sky. So, as you are filling your feeder with water and food for birds to come and eat, you must also know about different varieties of birds. Here these tips that will help you recognize whether the birds that visit you are local birds or migratory birds.
Different sorts of birds around you
You might be surprised to know that all the birds that you see at some point in time are not the natural habitants of your location. Some birds are like the permanent residents of the place. And, others are migratory birds. The birds in migration are those birds that travel long distances to find a preferable climate and make a temporary home. You might be astounded to see what kind of birds are flying around you. You can use some migration tools to plot birds of various species and to see when you might expect them.
How to track migratory birds near your location?
There are multiple migratory tools available that will let you track the path of various migratory birds in your area. Below mentioned is the list of migration tools to plot birds, and it will let you know about the birds in migration near you.
BirdCast
BirdCast is an app made by scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It provides real-time migration maps that show the current location of birds and the direction towards which they’re going. The forecast for BirdCast is based on 23 years of radar observations along with observation of weather forecasts. As no one can sit outside the whole day watching birds, BirdCast will help people to plan when to prioritize sitting out and maximize their bird-watching opportunities. To understand the real-time migration maps, you have to pair the live map on the app with the weather forecast.
eBird
eBird is also an online platform for bird-watching run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It claims to have sighted more than 100 million birds in migration each year by its members around the world. This app is useful for tracking specific species or discovering birds and hotspots near you. You get the information in the animation form, and you can know which bird is where with the help of eBird. It also lets you know where you can find a particular bird in abundance and other related information to it.
Hummingbird Central
Hummingbirds Central is a significant migration tool to plot birds, especially hummingbirds near you. This app provides an interactive real-time migration map. In addition to reporting the first sightseeing, this site also shares lots of hummingbird information about these fascinating fliers. It tracks more than a dozen hummingbirds and includes 10,000 first-sighting reports in 2019.
So, use these apps and real-time migration maps to figure out about the birds in migration near you. And, keep those bird feeders of yours filled as these birds may need to eat after long hours of flying.