From: tony@zoo.toronto.edu (Anthony L. Lang)
Subject: Are you having a late, slow migration?
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 20:14:15 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

Fall migration around Toronto, Ontario, Canada has been very slow
this fall.  Numbers of all species have been way down and things
seem to be about a week late.  We can't estimate what has
been happening to shorebirds (Scolopacidae and Charadriidae)
in the area, because the water levels
are so high this fall and therefore there is no habitat.  However,
the numbers of Broad-winged Hawks (Buteo platypterus) have been
down.  The numbers of other non-passerines and passerines
also seems to be down.  The migration monitoring observatories on
the Toronto Islands (Lake Ontario) and at Long Point (on Lake
Erie about 200 km sw of Toronto) have corroborated this
They have been catching and censusing 30 to 50 % fewer birds
than average.  I haven't heard any data on the relative 
composition of age classes to see whether the low numbers are
due to a lack of hatch year birds, however.  This will be
best assessed by the observatories because they net birds and
examine them in the hand (before banding/ringing them)
and the hawk watches at Whitby (Lake Ontario), Port Stanley
(Lake Erie) and Holiday Beach (Lake Erie near the Detroit
River).  Once the season is over they will be able to have a better 
at the data.  Today, however, was the first big day of banding
at the Toronto Bird Observatory.  We had 11 nets open from
0715 to 0915 EDT and caught about 80 birds.  There were plenty
more birds that we didn't catch, but we spent the rest of the
morning processing these birds before running off to teach or
work.  In general on the small island there were dozens of GOLDEN-
CROWNED KINGLETS (Regulus satrapa), fewer RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLETS (R. calendula), lots (terms used are relative to
the counts of an average day at this time of year)
HERMIT THRUSHES (Catharus
guttatus), a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (Dendroica coronata),
more than the usual number of PALM WARBLERS 
(Vermivora palmarum), lots of NASHVILLE
WARBLERS (V. ruficapilla), and a few individals of 12 other
species of warblers.  The sparrows (Emberizidae: Emberizinae)
do not seem to have peaked yet.  The number of WHITE-THROATED
SPARROWS (Zonotrichia albicollis) have been low for this time
of year as have been the other sparrows that we normally
catch: LINCOLN'S SPARROWS (Melospiza lincolnii) and SWAMP
SPARROWS (M. georgiana).
However, there were a few earlier flycatchers still: 
some Empidonax flycatchers, but only one EASTERN PHOEBE 
(Sayornis saya), a later migrant.  We also had a couple of 
DARK-EYED JUNCOS (Junco hyemalis), a little bit early,
and smattering of other species.  An exceptionally
early bird at Toronto, however, was a COMMON REDPOLL (Carduelis
flammea) at the beginning of September.  So, it seems
that there are exceptions to my general statement that
migration is late.  

What have other people been seeing this fall?
Is the migration completely off in its numbers and timing?
Are there fewer hatch year birds than normal?
Did a lot of birds not breed and leave early?
Did a lot of birds breed late and leave late?
-- 
Anthony Lang
Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Toronto
tony@zoo.utoronto.ca