BirdCast’s Bird Migration Forecast for 8 April 2026 (accessed on 20260407 at 5:30am ET), birdcast.org, Univ. of Illinois, Purdue & Cornell Lab of Ornithology

8 April 2026

Tonight’s weather looks encouraging for bird migration over southwestern Pennsylvania. BirdCast’s forecast map shows them streaming from Texas to upstate New York along the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Oh boy! We’ll see new birds tomorrow.

The expected woodland migrants are the same species as last week, but with one addition. Fox sparrows and golden-crowned kinglets are on their last big push through the area, the warblers are here to breed, and the blue-headed vireo is not expected yet but has already arrived in Pittsburgh’s East End.

Other expected migrants include horned grebes and 7 duck species — lesser scaup, ring-necked duck, hooded merganser, red-breasted merganser, blue-winged teal and bufflehead. This year most of the ducks are passing through without stopping, so I felt lucky to see a pair of buffleheads at Duck Hollow yesterday.

Bufflehead pair (photo by Bobby Greene, photographed in 2011)

Check out Birdcast’s Migration Dashboard for Allegheny County for statistics and the ever-changing list of expected birds.