Needless to say, the weather we have been enjoying recently is not what we expect in February.  Consequently, these sunny days with daytime temperatures reaching the high 70s and low 80s have left many of us believing that we are enjoying a very early spring.  The truth of the matter is our weather is an anomaly.  Winter will return before spring arrives weeks down the road.   However, we have enjoyed this balmy weather for so long, it is hard not think about the spring songbird migration.  Although there is much we do not understand about this amazing fete, we do know what time of day most songbirds depart their winter homes in Mexico and Central America.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

       Since we see large birds such large birds such as sandhill cranes and waterfowl migrating north each spring, it is easy to assume that the songbirds that migrate to and through our yards each spring also migrate during the day.  Actually, most songbirds migrate during the night.

       Different species of songbirds embark on the spring migration at different times during spring.  The rese-breasted grosbeak, for example, is a late migrant; it is a late migrant.  They migrate long after many other songbirds have already reached the United States.

       On their departure day, birds will feed and then rest before dusk.  About an hour after the sun has set, they take wing on their epic journey across the Gulf of Mexico.  They will fly before eventually making landfall along the coast of the United States the following afternoon.