There are typically very few individuals of this species in the Gulf of Mexico, but will the inland southeast see the appearance of one or two? Similar to the likelihood of White-tailed Tropicbird, these petrels would be an excellent find on the inland bodies of water in the southeastern US. The red track shows the path of Michael’s eye.īlack-capped Petrels have been sighted frequently off the Atlantic Coast in summer 2018. (If you get a “disconnected” message, click “Reload”.) Not all observations may be directly related to the storm.

See live sightings of species we expect may be displaced by Michael here beginning 10 October 2018. We still, very clearly, do not understand many of the mechanisms involved in birds ‘entrainment’ (or not!) and eventual deposition by storms, which is a primary reason for our interest in observations of species associated with these storms.

This and other tropical storms (for example, Irma in 2017) often trap (or ‘entrain’) birds in their circulations, depositing them far from birds’ points of origin. Whereas Rosa’s arrival in the Pacific saw significant weakening as it approached its eventual landfall location and traveled inland, Michael will remain intense at and just after landfall and although Rosa clearly “dropped” most or all of its avian cargo that it was transporting (our hopes for a windfall of storm waifs certainly did not become reality!), Michael seems poised for a different outcome. This is a powerful and very dangerous storm, and as with previous storms on which BirdCast reported it may have dramatic impacts on local and transient bird communities and their habitats when it comes ashore (and for certain on human interests in the region). Hurricane Michael strengthened rapidly into a major hurricane on Tuesday, and models are predicting a landfall in the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday. *** Always put safety of yourself and others before birding.*** NEVER put yourself in a situation where such risks may cut off escape routes or force you into unnecessarily hazardous positions. Remember also that strong winds are but one of the dangers of tropical storms, and that dangers of storm surges and of flooding are also life-threatening and devastating. IMPORTANT: If you are in the path of this powerful, devastating and very dangerous storm, heed all forecasts and warnings from the National Hurricane Center (NHC). We expect significant numbers of this species to occur in and near the path of Hurricane Michael as it moves through the southeastern US. Magnificent Frigatebirds are exceptional aerialists, with a tremendous potential for and history of long-distance vagrancy.

Michael hurricane track