By Tony Gazso, Interpretive Naturalist

Thoughts of fall have begun to pop into our minds–changing leaves, cooler days, and pumpkin-spiced everything. For our avian friends, it’s also time to begin the journey south for the winter. But when birds migrate south varies greatly from species to species. Most birds begin their journies after they’re done breeding. Some birds have a very short breeding season. The orchard oriole, for example, began its journey south back in July. Others won’t get to their wintering grounds until December! This wide range of months means that “fall migration” is a bit of a misnomer.

Orchard oriole

For birders, this drawn-out migration period is a chance to see a plethora of species. Fall migration typically happens in waves over the course of a few months, unlike spring migration which is an intense flurry lasting about six weeks. In general terms, fall migration begins with the movement of shorebirds, peaking in late August/early September. It’s around this time that many sandpipers and plovers, like the semipalmated plover, show up on beaches and mudflats throughout our area. As shorebird peak begins to wane, woodland songbirds move in. By October, grassland birds like sparrows and blackbirds push through. 

Semipalmated plover

Most of us think of fall migration as "birds flying south for the winter.” Of course, in this case, south is a relative term. South to us may mean somewhere tropical, but for a bird that spends its summer in the tundra of northern Canada, northeast Ohio is south for the winter. That’s right, some birds journey thousands of miles to spend their winters here, in the land of lake-effect snow! Some of these birds, like snow geese, or pine siskins don’t arrive until December or even January. So while we think of fall as that brief window that lasts from September to October where everything smells of pumpkin, in the bird world, “fall” as a migration period starts in July and doesn’t really end until spring, making this one of the most exciting times of the year for birders across Ohio!

Snow goose