Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York and New Jersey Face Millions of Migrating Birds Tuesday Night May 12 Into Wednesday May 13 With High Migration From Charleston and Richmond Through Philadelphia and Baltimore

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Millions of birds will take flight tonight across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, taking advantage of mild and calm conditions to migrate northward during one of the largest bird migration nights of the season, Tuesday, May 12 into the morning of Wednesday, May 13, 2026.

High migration levels are forecast across Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania including Richmond, Charleston, Baltimore and Philadelphia, while medium migration levels extend northward through New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island including New York City, Boston, Hartford and Providence.

Migration Levels by Region Tonight

The Large Bird Migration Night map valid tonight May 12 into the morning of May 13 shows dramatically different migration intensities across the region:

• High migration is forecast across a broad zone covering Virginia, West Virginia and extending northward through central Pennsylvania toward Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Cities including Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are all in the high migration zone tonight.
• Medium migration covers the Great Lakes region near Cleveland, Ohio as well as the Northeast coastline from New York City through Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, Hartford, Providence and Boston, where millions of birds will be passing through at a slightly lower but still significant volume tonight.
• Low migration is forecast across the far northern portions of the map including areas north of the Great Lakes, where cooler conditions limit the number of birds taking flight compared to the high and medium zones further south.

Why Tonight Is a Major Migration Night

Mild and calm overnight conditions across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are creating ideal conditions for birds to take flight and travel north tonight:

• Birds prefer to migrate on nights with mild temperatures, calm winds and clear or partly cloudy skies because these conditions allow them to fly efficiently over long distances without fighting headwinds or losing heat to cold temperatures.
• Some of the birds passing through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New York tonight have traveled thousands of miles from South America and other continents, using the Mid-Atlantic corridor as a key pathway northward to their summer breeding grounds.
• Tonight’s mild and calm conditions across the region make it one of the most favorable migration nights of the spring season, which is why forecasters are expecting millions of birds to take flight between Tuesday, May 12 and the morning of Wednesday, May 13.

How You Can Help Migrating Birds Tonight

Residents across Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, New York City, Boston and all communities within the high and medium migration zones can take simple steps to help birds pass through safely:

• Turn off all unnecessary outdoor lights after sunset tonight, Tuesday, May 12, especially bright floodlights and decorative lighting. Artificial lights confuse and disorient migrating birds during nighttime flight, causing them to circle illuminated buildings and increasing the risk of fatal window collisions.
• Keep pets indoors overnight and avoid loud disturbances in your yard through the morning of Wednesday, May 13 to give migrating birds safe resting spots if they need to land during their journey northward.
• Make windows more visible to birds by closing blinds or adding window decals tonight. Birds cannot see glass and window collisions are one of the leading causes of bird death during migration events of this scale.

What to Listen for Tonight

Residents across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast may notice signs of the migration overnight into Wednesday morning:

• Listen for bird calls overhead tonight across Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Richmond and New York City as many migrating species call out to each other during nighttime flight, and on a high migration night like tonight the chorus can be surprisingly loud even in urban areas.
• Early Wednesday morning, May 13 is an excellent time to look outside across all cities in the high and medium migration zones, as birds that flew through overnight will be landing to rest and feed before continuing northward.

WaldronNews.com will continue tracking this large bird migration event across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York and New Jersey including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond and New York City and will provide updates as migration levels and overnight conditions develop through Wednesday morning, May 13.