ONLINE Course: Audubon at Home: Bird Migration

Birding in Alabama is a seasonal feast. In spring, neotropical migrants from Central and South America make the perilous trip across or around the Gulf of Mexico, headed north.  Some pass through Alabama on their way to the northern US and Canada, but some join our year-round resident birds and stay to raise their young in the fields and forests of Alabama. In the fall, some pass-through migrants return to Alabama from the north, headed for their southern wintering grounds. But fall also brings a whole new population of birds from the north to spend the winter right here in Alabama.

Experienced birders have found out where to look for birds as the seasons change. And new technology has also aided the search for birds, as it has also advanced our understanding of how birds migrate. The class will cover some of these new discoveries, focusing on birds that spend at least part of the year here in Alabama. The class will also serve as an introduction to eBird. A joint project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, eBird makes use of more than 100 million bird sightings annually from birders and ornithologists around the world. For the first time in human history, we are gaining real insight into the mysteries of bird migration—insights that are available to anyone who is interested in understanding birds. The goal of the class is to inspire beginning and intermediate birders to understand and enjoy birding through the seasons, taking advantage of the amazing new tools now available for observing and understanding birds.