Yellow-rumped Warbler
The term may strike fear in the hearts of those dreading a nuclear winter, but for bird watchers, it evokes all the adreniline-fueled excitement of a kid in a candy store. What exactly is a fallout? A fallout is, in the birding sense of the word, a mass of birds, exceptional in both number and diversity, that descends on a given locale as a result of meteorological or seasonal forces.
When we think of fallouts, we usually envision a rampaging horde of migratory passerines invading the local migrant trap, whether it’s a propitious public park or an inviting shoreline. Sometimes a multifarious flock drops in for basic rest and refueling. After all, migration can carry a bird over thousands of hungry miles. Migrants make pitstops at key points along the way, often stopping at the same places around the same time year after year. Some of the most storied birding spots in the U.S. achieved acclaim on account of the predictability and awesome magnitude of their annual fallouts.
Other fallouts are caused by difficult weather conditions. Challenging headwinds or powerful precipitation might persuade ambulant avifauna to sit a day out. Sometimes a big storm makes the choice for a flock by blowing it hundreds of miles off courdse or pinning it down in an unexpected area. Sometimes it’s songbirds that comprise such a fallout and sometimes it’s seabirds. Either way, the experience of being engulfed by dozens of different, dazzling bird species, some of them quite rare, is unforgettable.
When it comes to songbirds, spring fallouts are best. At this time of year, wood-warblers, tanagers, orioles, and the rest are in full breeding plumage and song. However, autumn fallouts have their charms as well, particularly for those taken with the challenge of identifying birds in their subtle fall plumage. Furthermore, for many of us, fall hasn’t truly fallen until that final fallout of late migrants drops in, Yellow-rumped Warblers and kinglets in all their frenetic, innumerable glory.
I’ve never been lucky enough to see a real spring fallout. I’ve seen a few fall ones though. You don’t know where to point your bins next.
I have, Patrick, and I have to tell you – spring is even better because the birds are so bright.
I like your yellow-rumped warbler–so pale, and yet showing such good field marks. These guys vary so much, it seems to me, that I find myself peering through the fall flocks, tyring to be sure that they’re really all yellow-rumps. Haven’t seen any around me lately, though golden-crowned kinglets continue to move through in satisfying numbers.
You mention that migrants stop in predictable places across the US during fallout. I am interested in seeing a spring fallout this year, and I’m wondering how to find out where these predictable places are to view birds during the fallout.
Good luck with the spring (or fall) fallout, as numbers of songbirds are so depleted, true fallouts (like a thousand birds in one area) simply don’t exist. I’m a guide on the Upper Texas Coast, and these days, a coupla hundred songbirds in a day is really good. Sad to say.