Bird Migration Map & Radar
An interactive bird migration map that turns millions of open bird sightings into a living radar of movement across the globe. Every point is a real, openly licensed observation from GBIF — filter the full-screen map above by species, month, year and place, then scroll for how it works.
What this bird migration radar shows
The map groups individual bird sightings into migration activity cells so you can see where and when birds are being observed at a glance. Larger, warmer cells mean more observations in that half-degree area for the selected filters; smaller, cooler cells mean fewer. Panning across a season reveals the pulse of migration — birds appearing along coastlines, river valleys and flyways as the months change. Click any cell to open the sightings behind it, with species names, dates, localities and links back to the original record.
Where the bird data comes from (GBIF)
All observations are drawn from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the world's largest open network of biodiversity data. This bird observation map uses only openly licensed (CC0 and CC-BY) human observations — the same kind of records birders submit through citizen-science platforms — and refreshes them daily so the radar keeps pace with the current season. Each sighting links to its canonical GBIF occurrence page so you can verify the source, dataset and recorder.
How migration activity cells and filters work
Raw sightings are aggregated into a grid of roughly half-degree cells, counted by species, month and year. This keeps the map fast and readable even with hundreds of thousands of points in view, and makes migration patterns pop out instead of a wall of overlapping dots.
- Species — focus the radar on a single migratory bird, or view all tracked species together.
- Month — step through the calendar to watch a species arrive, pass through and depart.
- Year — compare migration timing and range between years.
- Location search — enter a place name or coordinates to zoom to bird sightings within a radius of that point.
How to use the map
- Pick a species and month to see where that bird is being reported right now.
- Click a cell to list the underlying sightings with dates, localities and source links.
- Search a place to check what is migrating through your own patch.
- Pan and zoom to load more observations across a flyway or continent.
Why a bird migration map is useful
- Birders — time your outings to peak passage and see which species are moving nearby.
- Researchers & ecologists — explore phenology, range shifts and observation density from an authoritative open dataset.
- Educators & students — teach migration, seasonality and biodiversity with real, current data.
- Everyone else — simply enjoy watching the seasons move across the map.
Built on the LatLng maps platform
This is a live demo of the LatLng mapping stack: GBIF observations aggregated into map cells and rendered on LatLng basemap tiles, with place search and the same Datasets API you can use to publish your own point or boundary data. You can build a bird sightings map — or any geodata map — the same way on a free tier.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the bird migration data come from?
Every point comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the largest open database of species occurrences. We use openly licensed (CC0 and CC-BY) human bird observations and refresh them daily.
Can I filter bird sightings by species, month or location?
Yes. Use the species, month and year controls to narrow the map, and search any place name or coordinates to zoom to sightings within a radius of that location.
Is the bird migration map free to use?
Yes, the map is free and open. It is a live demo of the LatLng maps platform, and you can build the same kind of map with a free LatLng API key.
More live map demos