Dale Gentry speaks in almost pious terms about his 2002 birding experience at Hixon Forest in La Crosse.
It was the peak of spring migration along the Mississippi Flyway (the migration route along the Mississippi River). He recalled that birds “dropped” from the trees, sparkling and singing as they foraged. Gentry, now Audubon’s conservation director for the Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri regions, couldn’t move his binoculars fast enough, but the birders around him were willing to share the species they spotted.
“‘Oh, what did you just see?’ ‘Someone just saw this out there!'” he described the conversations. “It’s one of the best things and it keeps me coming back every year to birdwatch.”
Spring migration is underway along migratory routes, making rivers and their floodplains hot spots for waterfowl and soon-to-arrive songbirds.
The Mississippi River plays a key role in guiding these birds across the country and providing habitat for them. Here’s everything you need to know about this important flyway, and when and where to see the birds on their long journey.
What is the Mississippi River Flyway?
The Mississippi Flyway is a migratory route along the lower Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers that birds follow each spring and fall between their breeding grounds in Canada and their winter homes in the Gulf of Mexico and Central and South America. between.
It is one of four flyways in the United States, the others being the Central Flyway, Pacific Flyway, and Atlantic Flyway.
More than 325 species of birds fly through the Mississippi Flyway each year, including sparrows, warblers, owls, ducks, plovers, cranes, chickadees and more. It is estimated that about 40% of North America’s waterfowl and shorebirds use flyways.
Where do they come from and where are they going?
Gentry said waterfowl typically spend the winter in the southern and southeastern United States, as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. As they migrate along rivers, they head to the prairie pothole regions of Canada, western Minnesota and the Dakotas. Some species, including wood ducks, yellow-headed ducks and mergansers, will remain in forested areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota, nesting in tree cavities.
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By comparison, many songbird species travel much further, flying from Central and South America. Gentry said they migrate at night, paying close attention to atmospheric pressure to decide when to travel, preferring pressure systems without storms or clouds. Once in the air, they can fly about 200 miles each night before stopping for a few days to rest and recharge.
Gentry said it’s “every birder’s dream” to be hanging out in the right spot when a large flock of colorful, exhausted birds arrives.
Why do birds love the Mississippi River?
Just like many of us remember landmarks that chart a route between our homes and certain familiar places, birds use the Mississippi River as a guide to help them travel from south to north and vice versa, Gentry said. Of course.
Birds migrating to other places use mountains or coasts as guides, but there’s no better visual marker in central America than the Mississippi River, he said.
It also comes with a valuable added benefit: a reliable habitat to stop and rest. Although the floodplain has changed dramatically as surrounding cities have grown, many places still have water and a belt of forest, making it an attractive place to rest and replenish energy, Gentry said.
more:Mississippi floodplain forests are dying. The race to bring them back is on.
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Although all species seem to appreciate it, some birds are particularly attached to it. Protozoans, a bright yellow songbird named for the yellow robes worn by papal clerks in the Roman Catholic Church, live in large swaths of old-growth forest surrounded by floods, Gentry said. In southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin, the birds are more abundant along the Mississippi River, but birders elsewhere in the state rarely see them.
How are climate change, habitat loss and light pollution affecting bird journeys?
The vital habitat provided by migratory routes is facing a range of threats. At Audubon, people are concerned about what scientists call a “phenological mismatch,” Gentry said. In other words, birds are genetically programmed to leave the south when the weather warms and arrive north when insects emerge and trees sprout.
But climate change is disrupting the timing of these events.
more:Less than a month away, migratory birds are already returning to Wisconsin
As winter and spring warm, data shows birds are arriving earlier than historically, Gentry said. The concept of “the early bird catches the worm” holds true here, as birds want to reach their final destination as early as possible to obtain the best breeding grounds. The danger is that the weather can fluctuate, and spring cold snaps can kill the tree buds and insects the birds need to eat, ultimately killing them.
River floodplain forests are also struggling. The upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers lost nearly half of their floodplain forest cover between 1891 and 1989 due to urban and agricultural land use and changes in flow patterns after locks and dams were installed in the 1930s.
These losses have accelerated over the past few decades due to climate change and land use changes. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and can produce more intense rainfall. Longer-lasting floods, including a devastating flood in 2019 when river levels exceeded 100 days, are killing trees.
more:A new report finds that high water levels and chronic flooding are changing ecosystems in the upper Mississippi River
Light pollution also poses a threat to birds, especially during their migrations. Gentry said birds orient themselves partly by the moon and stars, which causes them to be attracted to light. Bright urban environments attract them, and can be deadly: One night during migration last fall, nearly 1,000 birds flew into Chicago buildings on the shores of Lake Michigan and died.
Gentry said Audubon urges people to turn off all unnecessary lights during spring and fall migrations and even consider dimming necessary lights during peak bird traffic times.
“Birds are a great entry point into understanding how humans impact the environment,” he said. “They’ve been very responsive to all the changes we’ve made.”
When and where is the best place to see them?
Gentry said spring migration begins in April with waterbirds migrating north and tens of thousands arriving on rivers.
Songbirds begin arriving in early to mid-May, sometimes in such large flocks that they can be tracked by weather radar. The best time to catch them is early in the morning, from sunrise to about 10 a.m., when they are moving around and actively feeding.
Gentry said there is no place along the river to see a flock of birds during this time, especially on public land. He proposed establishing Wyalusing State Park in the La Crosse area near Prairie du Chien, Hickson Woods and Goose Island, as well as anywhere in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which protects Minnesota’s W. Thousands of acres of river flood plain between Bashar and Rock Island, Illinois.
more:Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge turns 100, saving floodplains from turning into farmland
Of course, Gentry said, there’s another birding opportunity when the fall migration arrives, often the most gorgeous of the two because the birds arriving in the spring have given birth to their babies, which means returning There are almost twice as many birds in the south.
But he prefers to go out in the spring. These birds are in the breeding season and often sing to attract mates.
“Thinking about the journey of these birds and how much they overcame to get there brings hope,” Gentry said.
Madeleine Heim is an American Legion reporter who writes about environmental issues in the Mississippi River Basin and Wisconsin. Contact her at (920) 996-7266 ormheim@gannett.com.
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