Spring Bird Migration Fills Seattle Skies
Northward Bound vs. South Bound
Birds come to the Pacific Northwest from as far south as northern South America and Central America. For 50 or so species, Washington is the warm spot where they spend winters, and in spring they depart north to Alaska and Canada.Image: Seattle Met Composite
They’re baaaaack. Who? The birds, of course. Spring marks an avian rush to the Pacific Northwest as dozens of species return, with the rush at peak for about six weeks. The skies get a little more crowded—and sound a lot better.
April–June
Peak spring migration around Seattle.Image: CeltStudio/shutterstock.com
Don’t Call It a Comeback
Birds Connect Seattle executive director Claire Catania shared some of her favorite returning species.
Rufous Hummingbird
Selasphorus rufus
Though tiny, this aggressive traveler makes one of the longest journeys in the bird world relative to its size. A single bird that goes from Mexico to Alaska will fly more than 78 million times its own body length.
Image: Iv Olga/Shutterstock.com
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Not quite as delicate as the songbirds, our big black-and-brown birds can smell carrion—that’s already-dead animals they use for a meal—from high above.
Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
Also known as a “fish hawk,” these birds are the closest we have to actual sea hawks. They come back from as far south as Central America, where the fish aren’t so deep in the winter.
Image: Ryan Mense/shutterstock.com
Yellow Warbler
Dendroica petechia
Catania notes that “warblers are the ones who steal all the thunder” thanks to their distinctive highlighter-yellow shade.
Image: Paul Reeves/shutterstock.com
Common Yellowthroat
Geothlypis trichas
Also yellow, it “looks just as at home in a tropical location as it does in Washington state,” says Catania. Plus, it has a distinctive “witchit-y” song.
Bar-Tailed Godwit
Limosa lapponica
Not every flier decides to settle down in the PNW; some, like these crow-size birds, keep going north to Alaska but are spotted here during their journeys.
Image: NDanko/shutterstock.com
Mortal Enemies
Outdoor cats are the biggest threat to Seattle’s migrating birds; nationally, cats kill 2.4 billion winged animals each year.
Image: Ron & Joe/shutterstock.com
Image: Mycetaria/shutterstock.com
Image: Deemon/shutterstock.com
Local Nomads
Some birds manage to migrate and stay local, like the varied thrush and harlequin duck—they come down to Washington’s lowlands in winter, then skirt up to higher elevations in summer.
Image: Alexander_P/shutterstock.com
Spot ’Em
- Birds Connect Seattle hosts free drop-in birding events in parks across the city.
- Track all the trips at BirdCast, a university-driven collection of forecast maps and real-time reports of who’s flying where.
Image: Ryan Mense/shutterstock.com
By Any Other Name
Though the name of nineteenth-century artist and naturalist John James Audubon is synonymous with avian associations, Seattle’s chapter of the National Audubon Society voted in 2023 to change its name to Birds Connect Seattle. Why? Because Audubon was also a known slaveowner, racist, and plagiarist. While Seattle was among the first to do so, dozens of groups nationwide have since followed suit.
