Episode
127 - Fall Migration Already Started (And You Probably Missed It)
- Published
- Aug 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 793
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- https://buzzblossomandsqueak.com/episode/bbs126
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Summary
It’s the end of July, and while the rest of us are still thinking pools and barbecues, the birds have already started leaving. Not in September like most of us assume — right now. Em and I have been noticing shorebirds we hadn’t seen since April, gathering in loose flocks on wires, and it turns out there’s an entire invisible clock that’s been counting down since the moment this year’s babies fledged. The Red-Winged Blackbird Timeline A newly fledged blackbird isn’t ready to migrate for weeks — first it needs parental feeding, then a slow move toward independence, then an entirely new set of flight feathers grown through a pre-basic molt. All told, it’s a solid 6–8 week runway from leaving the nest to being migration-ready. Fueling Up: The Fattening Phase Migration isn’t just about working wings — it’s about fuel. A blackpoll warbler nearly doubles its body weight before its long flight, and godwits go so far as to reabsorb up to a quarter of their liver, kidney, and digestive tissue to make room for fat reserves. Flying Alone, By Instinct Alone Young birds don’t migrate with their parents. Research on juvenile wood thrushes shows they make short relocation flights to find better feeding grounds, then eventually strike out on that first true migration with no guide but instinct — magnetic fields, star patterns, and daylight cues built in before they ever left the egg. Who Actually Leaves First Shorebirds lead the way, with failed or early-finishing Arctic breeders like yellowlegs and sandpipers already moving through the Midwest. Yellow warblers and orchard orioles are among the earliest songbirds to clear out — most orioles are gone from the upper Midwest by late August. What to Watch For Loose flocks gathering on wires, roads, and mudflats in late July are staging be…