Fall bird migrations in Iowa and where to spot them

Fall in Iowa is a birder’s paradise, as bird migrations take over the skies. Find out what birds you can spot and when.

There’s so much to look forward to about the fall. If you are a birder in Iowa, that makes it an even more exciting season.

Many birds migrate through the state as the season shifts to cooler temperatures and the trees turn brilliant colors. In fact, up to one billion birds will migrate through Iowa during the fall, making Iowa among the top five states for bird migration in the fall.

Read on to learn a little more about what birds will be making their way across the skies in Iowa during their autumn migration and when and where you can spot them. 

Fall migration events in Iowa

Birds of prey are especially fun to track during fall migration. Several organizations around the state organize “Hawk Watch” events, including at Hitchcock Nature Center in Pottawattamie County.

Enthusiasts gather to observe and count eagles, hawks, falcons, and other raptors migrating south along the major river valleys. In the past, they have tallied more than 10,000 raptors of 20 species flying south along the river in a season. This includes thousands of Swainson’s hawks which are rare in Iowa except during fall migration.

There’s also fall raptor festival at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Allamakee County where you can learn more about hawks. Grammar Grove in Marshall County is another good spot for raptor migration watching. This bird migration watching will peak in September. 

August bird migrations in Iowa

This month (August), you’ll start to see birds begin to migrate, especially those interested in the berries ripening across the state. Blackbirds—usually the first to arrive in spring—will begin flocking first, while the goldfinches, cedar waxwings, and mourning doves are still nesting.

It’s also possible to see large flocks of shorebirds, waterfowl, chimney swifts, and swallows around this time. Warblers begin heading south after they have finished breeding. If you live near water, you can see some shore birds, such as sandpipers and plovers, begin their early migration. This includes the possibility of seeing buff-breasted sandpipers.

And towards the end of the month, you can see orioles and hummingbirds active at your bird feeders again. They are getting ready to fly south to cross the Gulf of Mexico and winter in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. 

Photo courtesy of Mariko Margetson/Unsplash.

September bird migrations in Iowa

In September, you can begin to see rose-breasted grosbeaks, thrushes, flycatchers, cuckoos, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers all heading south. You’ll notice that the songbirds tend to quiet down for the season during this time as well. Shorebird migration is nearly complete.

A few key spots for shorebird watching, sometimes with hundreds or thousands of birds visible at one time, include the Hawkeye Wildlife Area near Iowa City where you can see plovers, dowitchers, dunlins, and phalaropes, and Story County’s Colo Bogs Wetlands Complex.

Anywhere along the Mississippi River is good for fall migration watch. Tundra swans can be seen by the thousands at Pool 9 near Lansing. You might even spot a trumpeter swan there as well. The upland sandpiper in particular is interesting as they travel south to Argentina and Paraguay for the winter, claiming the title of the longest migration from Iowa. 

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

October bird migrations in Iowa

In October, you’ll see the last of the summer migrants go, including sparrows and blackbirds. Juncos and red-breasted nuthatches will arrive. This is also prime time for red-tailed hawk migration. Nighthawks also migrate during this time, sometimes with hundreds in a loose flock, which means they are on their way south and won’t be back until May.

Vagrant gulls will also arrive across the state, and grackles will form impressive flocks as they begin to migrate, sometimes looking like a dark cloud moving across a field. As they travel south, other grackles join. By the time they reach the southeastern United States, there can be as many as 30 million birds in one flock!

Swallows (including tree swallows, bank swallows, cliff swallows, barn swallows, rough-winged swallows, and purple martins) also fly south at this time as they need to feast on insects. You’ll also want to watch for chimney swifts as they begin to migrate, roosting in chimneys with up to 5,000 other birds each night as they journey south. 

Photo courtesy of Vijayalakshmi Nidugondi/Unsplash.

What to keep in mind

Remember, you can keep an eye out for these winged creatures and help them along the way. Turn off outside lights during evening hours (particularly between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.) to help decrease light pollution as they migrate. Some 80 percent of birds migrate during the night.

If you have cats that you allow outdoors, it’s best to keep them indoors during high migratory times as well. If you plan to put out bird baths and feeders, be sure to keep them clean to prevent the spread of disease.

Lastly, if you want to learn more and you are interested in following along with bird migration in your area more closely, check out the BirdCast Migration Dashboard for Iowa. 

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.