And what a big day it was! Thirty-three birders stomped around Marquette, Alger, Iron, Baraga, Houghton, and Bay County searching out the best of the 2026 spring migration, adding our totals to the eBird Global Big Day event.
Let’s get right to the highlights. The 16 teams tallied 152 species across 109 checklists. Team sizes ranged from 1 to 5 members. Some teams got started before sunrise and went until dark. One team was WAY down south in Bay County, where they ID’d birds that had not yet made it this far north. Most teams were in Marquette. A few teams covered multiple counties.
It was exciting to see some new birders joining in on the fun. Don’t feel bad if you had low numbers. It takes time and practice. Maybe next year we can team up experienced birders with beginners.
About 50% of the teams recorded more than 50 species; one team tallied 95 species. Interestingly, the most shorebirds were found by the teams located at the southernmost and the northernmost locations. More suitable habitat?
Team Hubi Birders(Bay County) and Team Kingfishers(Delta, MQT County) had the highest warbler count, 11 species.
Team Turdus and Team Superior had the highest sparrow count, 10 species.
Both Team Goshawk and Team Turdus had a high of 6 raptor species.
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TEAM HIGHLIGHTS AND PHOTOS
Every team had at least one rare or one special early May sighting.
Team Suboscine – Northern Harrier, Sanderlings
Team Nagaunee – American Bittern, Orange-crowned Warbler
Team Goshawk – Rough-legged Hawk, 53 Greater Yellowlegs
Team Near the A Grade – Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Baltimore Oriole
Team Bird Divas – Northern Waterthrush, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs
Team Superior – Blue-headed Vireo
Team Snap Grackle Peent – Common Loon, Peregrine Falcon
Team UPBIRDIE – Black-backed Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird
Team Hubi Birders – Sora, Great Egret, Ring-necked Pheasant, Purple Martin
Team Birding Bears – Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Team Marshmallows – Northern Pintail
Team Turdus – Great-horned Owl, American Woodcock
Team Kingfishers – Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Barred Owl, 27 Sandhill Cranes
Team A Tern with a Loerie – Wild Turkey
Team NAP Lab – Red-necked Grebe, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren
Team Rory and Co. – Upland Sandpiper, American Pipit
Report with links to the individual team trip reports. View on computer screen or click for PDF.
TEAM | members | location | Total Sp | Checklists | warbler sp. | sparrow sp. | raptors | rarities and cool stuff | LINK TO REPORT |
| Suboscine | 1 | Alger | 46 | 5 | 2 | 7 | NOHA | SAND, SNBU, | https://ebird.org/tripreport/518089?view=species |
| Team Negaunee | 2 | MQT | 69 | 13 | 6 | 7 | BAEA, BWHA, MERL, AMKE | AMBI, OCWA, COLO, TRUS | https://ebird.org/tripreport/517868 |
| Team Goshawk | 2 | Keweenaw | 66 | 6 | 3 | 9 | MERL, AMKE,BAEA, SSHA, NOHA, RLHA | RLHA, NOPI(55), BBPL, TRES(64), GRYE(53) | https://ebird.org/tripreport/514362 |
| Near the A Grade | 2 | Iron | 40 | 6 | 3 | 7 | BAEA, BWHA | BAOR, RTHU, RUGR | https://ebird.org/tripreport/516703 |
| Bird Divas | 3 | MQT | 20 | 3 | 1 | 3 | NOWA, LEYE, GRYE | ||
| Team Superior | 2 | MQT | 62 | 5 | 6 | 10 | BAEA, SSHA | BHVI | https://ebird.org/tripreport/516517 |
| Snap Grackle PEENT! | 4 | MQT | 35 | 7 | 1 | 3 | PEFA | COLO, PEFA, BWTE | https://ebird.org/tripreport/516509 |
| upbirdie | 2 | MQT | 68 | 7 | 8 | 9 | AMKE, BAEA | BBWO, NOMO, EATO | https://ebird.org/tripreport/512697 |
| Hubi Birders | 2 | Bay County | 81 | 8 | 11 | 9 | RTHA, BAEA, AMKE | RNEP, SORA, CATE, GREG, AWPE, PUMA, Vireos(4) | https://ebird.org/tripreport/515066 |
| Birding Bears | 2 | MQT | 10 | 6 | BAEA | RTHU | https://ebird.org/tripreport/516140 | ||
| Marshmallows | 1 | Delta | 56 | 2 | 3 | 7 | NOHA,BAEA,BWHA | NOPI | https://ebird.org/tripreport/518046 |
| Team Turdus | 1 | MQT | 95 | 17 | 6 | 10 | AMKE, MERL, PEFA, BAEA, BWHA, GHOW | GHOW, PEFA, EWPW, AMWO | https://ebird.org/tripreport/515079 |
| The Kingfishers | 2 | Delta, MQT | 65 | 16 | 11 | 8 | BAEA, SSHA, NOHA, BAOW | BAOW, HOLA, SACR (27) | https://ebird.org/tripreport/516969 |
| A Tern with a Loerie | 2 | MQT | 32 | 3 | 3 | 4 | BAEA | WITU | https://ebird.org/tripreport/518535 |
| NAP Lab | 4 | Delta | 59 | 3 | 8 | 7 | BAEA, AMKE, MERL | RNGR, WAVI, BGGN, SEWR, MAWR, INBU | https://ebird.org/checklist/S335608876 |
| Team Rory and Company | 1 | MQT | 33 | 2 | 1 | 6 | AMKE | UPSA, AMPI | https://ebird.org/tripreport/519592 |
| 33 | 152 | 109 |