Hooded warbler in southwestern Pennsylvania (photo by Steve Gosser)

5 May 2026

Today we’re on our way to Magee Marsh, Ohio where we’ll be birding early before The Biggest Week in American Birding begins 8-17 May 2026. It truly is the “Biggest Week” as it draws 80,000 to 90,000 visitors to the area each year.

The colors on this eBird Hotspot map show why it’s such a popular birding place. The redder the color, the more species seen. The hottest spot of all (center of the map) is Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ottawa County where 305 species have been recorded. Magee Marsh Boardwalk is close behind with 276 species.

screenshot of eBird Hotspots in Northwestern Ohio region as of 5 May 2026

It’s the “Warbler Capital of the World” though only four warbler species breed in Ohio’s marshes: Prothonotary warbler, common yellowthroat, northern yellow warbler (recently split), and occasionally black-and-white warbler.

This year’s Biggest Week’s cover bird is the hooded warbler (Setophaga citrina), a bird so rare at Magee Marsh Boardwalk that if one shows up it causes a stampede.

Hooded warblers occur in northwestern Ohio (see my faint orange circle on the map below) but are more readily seen in western Pennsylvania (darker purple). They are rare at the Boardwalk because they prefer thick shrubby areas in forest understory, not open marsh habitat with sparse woodlots.

Hooded warbler eBird sightings in past 10 years as of 3 May 2026

Some formerly rare birds are now more common. Prior to 2010 American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) were very rare flyover birds. Now they are present every year.

American white pelicans flying over Howard Marsh, Ohio, May 2023 (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Their official range map (left) still has them absent east of the Mississippi but observations and breeding records show some in northwestern Ohio. American white pelicans now breed on Turning Point Island in Sandusky Bay and many stop over on their way to their breeding grounds in Canada (righthand map).

American white pelican range map (Wikimedia) vs eBird sightings in past 10 years as of 3 May 2026

The forecast for northwestern Ohio calls for chilly cloudy weather and rain while we’re there. I might need this video “warbler fix” by the time I’m done. (I also posted this video last year.)