A fall migration surge moved over Oklahoma during an overnight stretch this week, part of a fall migration surge that meteorologist Mike Morgan flagged for viewers heading into Tuesday night. The estimate comes from BirdCast, a radar-based tracking tool that began recording the activity at 7:40 p.m. CDT Tuesday.
During a Tuesday night segment, KFOR meteorologist Mike Morgan discussed a major butterfly and bird migration wave moving into the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, and he recommended residents fill their bird feeders as the activity ramps up. The BirdCast Oklahoma Migration Dashboard uses weather radar to track and predict the numbers and flight directions of birds aloft.
Locally, the BirdCast Oklahoma County dashboard offers a county-level view of migration activity, according to the same tracking system. That local view puts a number on the wave of wings passing above OKC roofline traffic while most residents slept.
Why September Is Peak Migration Season
The timing lines up with the broader migratory calendar. Most birds pass through the contiguous United States during fall migration from early September through October, per the same BirdCast dashboard, and the organization's fall forecasting program runs from August 1 through November 15. Birds typically begin migrating 30 to 45 minutes after sunset, with the greatest numbers airborne two to three hours later, the dashboard notes.
Oklahoma's geography puts it squarely in the middle of the action. The state sits within the Central Flyway, a corridor used by hundreds of bird species during migration, according to Lights Out, Oklahoma. More than 80% of migratory species in North America migrate at night, and billions of birds move through the country each spring and fall, BirdCast states on its site.
Oklahoma State University associate professor Tim O’Connell expects a major bird migration wave around mid-September, followed by a second wave of different species around mid-October, as reported by KTUL. That forecast tracks with what BirdCast's radar picked up this week.
Oklahoma Was Already on the Radar for a Bigger Wave
This isn't the first big movement through the state this season. BirdCast had predicted that more than 200 million migratory birds would begin their journey over the nights of August 25 and 26, and Oklahoma was named among the states expected to see the highest concentration of birds that night, alongside Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, according to Popular Science.
Why Wildlife Groups Push Lights Out
All that overnight air traffic comes with risk. Artificial light at night can disorient migrating birds, sending them into hazardous environments where they can collide with power lines, buildings, or illuminated windows, according to Lights Out, Oklahoma. Turning off unnecessary outdoor lighting during peak migration windows is one of the main precautions wildlife advocates recommend to reduce those collisions.
For now, the message out of Tuesday night's forecast is simple: the birds are moving through OKC in force, and backyard feeders are likely to see some new visitors passing through as the fall wave continues.
