Bird Arrival and Departure Dates

These dates indicate the approximate arrival and departure times of migrants commonly seen in Marin County. Some individuals usually will be found both before and after these periods. Click here for Birding Locations

February March April May June June July August September October November December
FEBRUARY
 Arrivals Early Allen’s Hummingbird
Mid Violet-green Swallow
Departures Mid Heermann’s Gull
MARCH Arrivals Early Rufous Hummingbird, Barn Swallow
Mid Red Knot, Caspian Tern, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Bullock’s Oriole
Late Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Wilson’s Warbler
APRIL Arrivals Early Warbling Vireo
Mid Vaux’s Swift, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Cassin’s Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak
Late Sabine’s Gull, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Lazuli Bunting
Departures Mid Bufflehead, Say’s Phoebe
Late American Wigeon, Black Scoter, Thayer’s Gull, Fox Sparrow
MAY Arrivals Early Grasshopper Sparrow
Departures Early Northern Fulmar, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Greater Yellowlegs, Red Knot, Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Mew Gull, Herring Gull, Varied Thrush, Lincoln’s Sparrow
Mid Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Eared Grebe, American White Pelican, Semipalmated Plover, Wandering Tattler, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-legged Kittiwake, Rufous Hummingbird, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Townsend’s Warbler, Golden-crowned Sparrow
Late Brant, Northern Shoveler, Pomarine Jaeger, Bonaparte’s Gull, Sabine’s Gull, Ruby-crowned Kinglet
JUNE Arrivals Mid Heermann’s Gull
Late Elegant Tern
Departures Early Red-breasted Merganser
JULY Arrivals Early Greater Yellowlegs
Mid Lesser Yellowlegs, Wandering Tattler, Western Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher
Late Northern Fulmar, American White Pelican, Spotted Sandpiper, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Least Sandpiper, Common Tern
AUGUST Arrivals Early Buller’s Shearwater, Northern Shoveler, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Long-billed Dowitcher, Parasitic Jaeger, Sabine’s Gull
Mid Eared Grebe, Green-winged Teal, Semipalmated Plover, Wilson’s Phalarope, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, Bonaparte’s Gull, Townsend’s Warbler
Late Brant, American Wigeon, Wilson’s Snipe
Departures Mid Allen’s Hummingbird
SEPTEMBER Arrivals Early Canvasback, Pomarine Jaeger, Cedar Waxwing
Mid Ring-necked Duck, Dunlin, Black-legged Kittiwake, Say’s Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, Fox Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow
Late Horned Grebe, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Mew Gull, Herring Gull, Varied Thrush, Golden-crowned Sparrow
Departures Mid Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Grasshopper Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole
Late Lazuli Bunting
OCTOBER Arrivals Mid Black Scoter, Thayer’s Gull
Departures Early Wilson’s Phalarope, Western Wood-Pewee, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cliff Swallow, Black-headed Grosbeak
Mid Sabine’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Vaux’s Swift, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Swainson’s Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow
Late Wilson’s Warbler

NOVEMBER

 

 Departures Early Buller’s Shearwater, Red-necked Phalarope, Elegant Tern, Common Tern, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow
Mid Red Knot
Late Lesser Yellowlegs
DECEMBER Departures Early Parasitic Jaeger
Late Red Phalarope