A Bird Migration Over New York Was So Big It was Caught on Doppler Radar

How many birds does it take to show up on doppler radar? Apparently, a lot!

When Is Peak Bird Migration in New York State?

Have you noticed more birds in your neighborhood than normal? It's that time of year according to New York State Parks and Recreation.

According to NYS Parks, we are in the thick of spring bird migration. They explain that "generally from mid-April to Mid-May" is when most birds are passing through New York on their way "to their breeding grounds."

With that being said, a recent bird migration was so big over New York State it was picked up on radar.

Bird Migration Over Albany County Caught on Doppler Radar

Over the last few weeks there have been several instances where bird migrations across the nation have been so big, that they've been picked up on radar.

For the most part it was around the Mid-west, but on the night of May 12th, 2025 starting around 8:00 a large bird migration started over New York State.

News 10 ABC meteorologist Steve Caporizzo shared a few shots of radar catching the migration.

According to Caporizzo, between 8:10 pm and 10:50 pm there were over 360,000 birds that flew over Albany County.

As of 5:30 am the Bird Cast website said there was an estimated 1,417,900 birds flew over.

Pretty incredible, right?

What Birds Are Migrating Across New York?

There are a handful of birds that are migrating across the region. Bird Cast is a great website to follow along with if you're interested in birding and following the migration patterns.

They report that birds like the Baltimore Oriel, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Wood Thrust, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Scarlet Tanager and many others are the types of birds flying over the area. 

Have you seen any of these bird migrations?