Southward Bird Migration Has Begun!

Local bird populations always seem to be in a state of flux - and they usually are! It was only during the first few days of June when the final northward bird migrants arrived or passed through Montana. These are usually common nighthawks and some others - primarily insect eaters. And now in very early July, we are getting our first movement of some species southward. Several days ago, a neighbor who had filled her hummingbird feeders about 10 days previously reported her first visits from rufous hummers. So I put my feeders up on Tuesday, and by that evening, I had my initial rufous visitors. And I'm now seeing reports of rufous already in Arizona. This species breeds mainly west of the Continental Divide but then seems to head east over the divide in Montana and then southward. Migrant numbers will not peak until late July, and we will also see movement in calliope hummers in the near future. The rufous males are generally very aggressive at defending their selected feeders so several well spaced feeders may help hold more birds in your yard.Hummingbirds are not the only species showing some movement south. Just this morning, the Montana Birding Listserve had several notes about shorebirds showing up in their usual haunts - west of the divide near Kalispell and east at Freezout Lake - some of the best areas for these long distant migrants. Their numbers will keep building until well into August, but some laggard species - dowitchers and others - will still be present into October. The lesser yellowlegs below is but one of many shorebirds species that may be sighted in August - when a good day may present a dozen or more species!So it is a rare month in Montana when we don't have some changes in the bird species you might expect to encounter on a day in the field.