Strongest current evidence
National morning birding intelligence
Did birds move over you last night?
Then answer the question that matters after sunrise: where should you bird this morning, what is actually being reported nearby, and is the weather workable?
Choose a location
Check this morning
Location chooses the BirdCast region, local morning forecast and nearby eBird reporting geography. Device location is only requested when you tap “Use my location.”
Checking migration, nearby hotspots and morning weather…
Morning decision
Reading migration…
Migration, local reports and field weather are evaluated separately.
Birds crossed region—overnight regional estimate
Birds in flight—live or peak regional estimate
Movement direction—regional radar direction
Speed · altitude—regional radar movement
Migration evidence
What moved overnight
Loading regional source…
Morning field conditions
Checking NWS weather…
Rain and wind remain separate from the migration signal.
On the ground
Where should you bird this morning?
Checking recent species records and nearby hotspots…
Closer strong option
Checking for a nearer alternative…
These answer two different questions: where current bird evidence is strongest, and whether a meaningfully closer hotspot still has strong evidence.
Recent species
Reported in the last few days
Local observations are a reporting sample, not a complete inventory.
More options
Other places to check
Nearby hotspots are grouped by comparable recent species evidence. Within the same evidence band, notable sightings and proximity matter before small recency differences. This is not guaranteed abundance or a statement about public access.
Notable nearby
Unusual birds recently reported
Notable status comes from eBird. Reports may be provisional, change after review, or occur at locations with access restrictions.
Local map
Places worth checking
Selected location plus nearby eBird hotspots surfaced from recent species records.
How to read the morning
A strong flight is only the first clue.
The useful decision comes from combining independent evidence: meaningful overnight movement, active recent reports at nearby hotspots, notable sightings and weather that lets you bird effectively.
This is the highest-interest combination. Start with nearby hotspots showing recent species activity rather than assuming every park under the radar path received birds.
The flight can still matter, but wind and rain may reduce field comfort or visibility. Weather can also concentrate migrants locally, which this tool does not claim to predict.
Still worth considering. Resident birds, lingering migrants, notable sightings and smaller movements can make a good morning even without a BirdCast “High” label.
Source boundaries
No invented birding percentage.
- BirdCast: Cornell Lab radar-based nocturnal migration estimates supply regional movement evidence such as migration amount, direction, speed and altitude when available.
- eBird species records: Recent public API records add species context. They reflect birder effort and are not a census of everything present.
- Strongest current evidence: This choice uses the hotspot with the highest number of distinct recent species records represented in the current eBird sample, with notable reports and distance used only as tie-breakers.
- Closer strong option: This only appears when another hotspot remains in the strong current-evidence band and is meaningfully closer: at least 2 miles closer and at least 15% closer than the strongest-evidence hotspot. It is a travel tradeoff, not a claim that the nearer place has more birds.
- Hotspot ranking: Other nearby eBird hotspots are grouped by recent species evidence relative to the strongest nearby hotspot. Within comparable evidence, notable sightings and proximity rank ahead of small timestamp differences. A farther place therefore needs materially stronger current evidence to outrank a close alternative.
- Notable birds: eBird's notable feed provides unusual recent reports separately from general hotspot activity.
- Weather: National Weather Service hourly forecasts provide local morning rain and wind context. Our “good / mixed / poor” field-weather label is a transparent rule, not a BirdCast or eBird rating.
- Season: BirdCast's live feed operates March 1–June 15 and August 1–November 15. Outside those windows, live radar is reported as off-season instead of being fabricated.
- Species: Weather radar cannot identify exact species in flight. Species names shown here come from recent ground observations, not from the radar signal.
Sources: BirdCast, eBird, National Weather Service, and U.S. Census TIGERweb geography.