Project began July 20, 1999.
Recently updated on 2 May, 2007

Welcome to
"CoastBirds"

The MISSISSIPPI COAST
Bird Migration Site

Tracking ANNUAL bird migration in three coastal counties:
Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson.

New birdfinding guide for the "CoastBirds" region by Judith A. Toups, Jerry Bird, and Stacy Jon Peterson Published: 2004 by Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA To order a copy, write: Mississippi Coast Audubon Society c/o Bruce Norton 5701 Quave Rd Vancleave, MS 39565 msbushwhacker@cableone.net List price: $16.95; TOTAL PRICE (Including tax & mailing): $21.00 Make check payable to MCAS Click HERE to access downloadable indices for sites and birds that were left out of the book at the discretion of the publisher.

THANKS to fellow "Birding Coastal Mississippi" authors Judy Toups and Jerry Bird for their valuable assistance with bird records for this online compendium. I am also incredibly indebted to Charley Delmas for providing untold numbers of records from his extensive field notebooks. Data from Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR's Seaman Road Sewage Lagoon surveys were kindly provided by refuge biologist Scott Hereford, with the support of his biological technicians Tracy Grazia and Jereme Phillips. Many other birders have kept me informed of recent finds through posts to MISSBIRD or to me personally. And a whole host of records have been extracted from published sources, such as North American Birds and the Mississippi Kite. The latter source, published by the Mississippi Ornithological Society, has proven exceptionally helpful since it typically includes an annual summary of sightings throughout the state. Without such participation, this project would be much less complete. Please join our team and send me your MS Coast bird data!

--Stacy Jon Peterson

What is the Purpose of the CoastBirds Web Page?

• Bird books which detail the arrival and departure status of migrants or the occurrence of rarities are outdated the moment they are published. Web pages, however, can be updated with pertinent information indefinately. The goal of this web page is to provide an easily updatable "e-book" which keeps track of historic and current annual arrival and departure dates for migrants and logs the reports of rare species on the Mississippi Coast. This information will allow birders to compare, to a certain degree, the importance of the observations they make each year. Was your sighting noteworthy this year because it was early or late? Was migration "on-time" this year? How are extreme arrivals or departures changing over time? When have rare species primarily occurred? When might you make a concerted effort to look for any given species on the Mississippi Checklist?
  
• Contributors to North American Birds (formerly Field Notes and prior to that American Birds...) and Mississippi Ornithological Society's Mississippi Kite may find these records helpful for determining if their observations are worthy of publication in these journals...  [Blatant personal advertising:  I encourage you to support both journals with your records and subscriptions]. The 3X5 report card used to submit records to MOS for publication in regional bird journals is illustrated at the link. You may use your own index cards with the same format, or request pre-printed cards from Terry Schiefer via email.
  
• DISCLAIMER:  The records herein are referenced to published literature when possible, but even most of those have yet to undergo a formal review process. Furthermore, this compendium is complete only to the extent of what has been published or otherwise brought to my attention.

How Can You Help?

• If you've been keeping a list of species you have observed anywhere in the three coastal counties, with dates and locations, then you may just send me your entire sighting file and I will extract and include in this e-book any records that are noteworthy while citing you as the source.
  
• I also encourage you to share with me individual noteworthy sightings, including sightings of vagrants AND the first and last times you observe ANY species not considered a year-round resident on the coast for each year! This e-book is largely a tally of annual extreme observations, so first and last observed dates will vary from year to year. For instance, tell me when you first see a White-crowned Sparrow or Yellow-rumped Warbler this fall or the last date you see one in the spring. Tell me when you see your first arriving Swallow-tailed Kite of the year, or the first and last dates of northbound Blue-winged Warblers in spring and then the first and last dates of ones that pass back south in the fall... And then next year, please send me new sightings again! Get the picture?
  
• Arrival dates are easy to note, but departure dates are much more poorly documented. So I encourage folks to pay attention to the last time you observe a species in any given season, as well as the first, and report those dates and locations to me as well!
  
• Electronic submissions via email are encouraged; or email me for my mailing address.

• Chapter 1 -- Non-Passerines, Part I -- (Loons through Ducks)
  • Loons, Grebes, Shearwaters, Storm-Petrels, Pelicans, Boobies, Cormorants, Anhingas, Frigatebirds, Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, Ibis, Spoonbills, Storks, Vultures, Geese, Swans and Ducks
• Chapter 2 -- Non-Passerines, Part II -- (Osprey through Coots)
  • Osprey, Hawks, Eagles, Kites, Caracaras, Falcons, Turkeys, Quail, Cranes, Rails, Gallinules and Coots
• Chapter 3 -- Non-Passerines, Part III -- (Plovers through Skimmers)
  • Plovers, Sandpipers, Stilts, Avocets, Godwits, Curlew, Dowitchers, Phalarope, Jaegers, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
• Chapter 4 -- Non-Passerines, Part IV -- (Doves through Woodpeckers)
  • Doves, Pigeons, Cuckoos, Anis, Owls, Nightjars, Swifts, Hummingbirds, Kingfishers, and Woodpeckers
• Chapter 5 -- Passerines, Part I -- (Flycatchers through Swallows)
  • Tyrant Flycatchers, Shrikes, Vireos, Jays, Crows, Larks, and Swallows
• Chapter 6 -- Passerines, Part II -- (Chickadees through Waxwings)
  • Chickadees, Nuthatches, Creepers, Wrens, Kinglets, Gnatcatchers, Bluebirds, Thrushes, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Starlings, Pipits, and Waxwings
• Chapter 7 -- Passerines, Part III -- (New World Warblers)
• Chapter 8 -- Passerines, Part IV -- (Tanagers through Sparrows)
  • Tanagers and Sparrows and allies
• Chapter 9 -- Passerines, Part V -- (Cardinals through Weaver Finches)
  • Grosbeaks and allies, Blackbirds and allies, Finches and allies, and House Sparrow
• Chapter 10 -- Observers Listed (JOIN US BY SENDING ME YOUR SIGHTINGS)
• Chapter 11 -- Literature Cited for published accounts.

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LINKS

CoastBirds is copyrighted © 1998 - 2004  Stacy Jon Peterson

The records contained in CoastBirds are in the public domain, which allows you to freely reproduce them (while citing sources...).
The CoastBirds compilation as a whole is copyrighted because the records have been
"selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship,"
as determined in the similar 1991 US Supreme Court decision -- Feist vs. Rural.

Feel free to link to this site.  Let me know if you do, so I can return a link to your site.

In reports, please cite this page as:
Peterson, S.J. 2004. COASTBIRDS: Mississippi Coast Bird Migration. Electronic Version 7.0. <http://www.geocities.com/coastbirds/>