What to look for in nature in Alabama this March

Which birds come back to Alabama in March?

• Swallow-tailed kites

  Late March at the earliest in most of the range; breeding begins between the third week of March and the first week of July · Floodplain forests along the lower Alabama and lower Tombigbee rivers and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta

  Few birds are as easy to name once you see one: a white head and underparts, black wings and back that flash blue in direct light, and a deeply forked tail. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) says arrival dates run from mid-February in south Florida to late March elsewhere, and that Alabama's birds nest in tall deciduous trees on natural levees and in mature cypress-hardwood swamps. It rates the kite a species of high conservation concern, because its numbers and range have shrunk since the early twentieth century. Alabama Birding Trails calls it uncommon and local, and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta trail account describes the summer view as kites flying along the riverbanks just above the treeline, so a boat ramp or bridge over the delta is a sensible place to look. Please keep your distance from any nest.

• Ruby-throated hummingbirds

  Usually April or early May at feeders; a scout may appear earlier · Flowering shrubs, woodland edges and feeders statewide

  Alabama Birding Trails lists this hummingbird as common in spring, summer and fall, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System says hummingbirds usually begin visiting feeders in April or early May. First-arrival dates vary from year to year, so a first-of-year sighting is worth recording either way. Extension suggests a nectar of one part table sugar to four or five parts warm water, never honey, with the feeder cleaned weekly in vinegar and hot water rather than detergent. Journey North keeps a map of reported sightings through the spring, and a first-of-year report from your yard adds a dot to it.

• The purple martin second wave

  Young birds arrive four to twelve weeks after the first adults · Martin houses and gourds near open ground

  If a scout reached your martin house in February, the colony itself is still filling in. The Purple Martin Conservation Association says last year's young begin arriving four to twelve weeks after the first adults, and that martins can start nesting through the end of June. It advises keeping entrances closed until the adults are due, and not closing the entrance holes or taking housing down until late August. Alabama Birding Trails calls the species common in spring, summer and early fall inland, and says its return from the southern hemisphere heralds the start of spring.

• Waterthrushes and parulas

  From early March · Wooded creeks, swamps and river bottoms

  Both are small, warbler-family birds that are heard before they are seen. Alabama Birding Trails lists northern parula and prothonotary warbler among the nesting species of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, and early arrivals of both are possible in March, though dates vary with the year and the latitude. Look and listen along wooded creeks and swamp edges at first light.

Why do birders go to Dauphin Island, and does the rush start in March?

• Dauphin Island Audubon Bird Sanctuary

  Quiet and promising in March; busiest around mid-April · Dauphin Island, with parking off Bienville Boulevard

  The sanctuary has trails through maritime forest and a slightly raised, wheelchair-accessible boardwalk on the Lake Loop to Gaillard Lake, where wading birds feed. The oak grove of the old banding area and the Campground Trail draw the greatest variety of migrant songbirds. Printable maps and bird lists can be downloaded from the Alabama Birding Trails page, and the sanctuary's eBird hotspot shows what other people saw this week.

• Indian Shell Mound Park

  Spring and fall migrations · Northern shore of Dauphin Island, a stop on the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail

  ADCNR describes this 11-acre park as the first point of land migrants meet after crossing the Gulf. Its moss-draped live oaks stand on shell middens left by Native people of the Mississippian period (about 1100 to 1550), and self-guided visits are possible. Listing the oak trees before the birds arrive makes it easier to know where to look when they do.

• Lake Shelby and Gulf State Park

  March programs listed by the park · Gulf Shores

  Gulf State Park lists a Birding for Beginners walk at Lake Shelby on Tuesday, March 2, at 10 a.m., and other nature programs through the month (see the families section). It is a gentle way to learn the common coastal species before the April peak.

What are the eagles, ospreys and bears doing in March?

• Eaglets growing in the nest

  Fledging in spring · Tall trees near the Tennessee River reservoirs and other large lakes

  ADCNR reports clutches of one to three eggs laid in December or January, incubated for 30 to 32 days, and says a young eagle spends close to three months in the nest. The young should therefore be flying by spring. They are about adult size when they leave, though the birds do not reach breeding age until about five. Binoculars from a car or a roadside are enough, so leave the nest tree undisturbed.

• Ospreys and their sky dance

  Spring courtship and nest repair · Lakes, rivers and coastal marshes; most common on the Gulf Coast

  ADCNR calls the osprey a breeder, fairly common in spring, summer and fall on the Gulf Coast and uncommon in winter. In courtship the male flies about with a fresh fish or a stick in his talons in what is called the sky dance. Ospreys keep one partner for life and tend to return to the old nest. The species nearly vanished when DDT was in wide use, and its recovery since the ban in 1970 is a conservation success.

• Wheeler's spring schedule

  March through October · Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, near Decatur

  USFWS lists the visitor center, wildlife observation building, photography blinds, Atkeson Cypress Boardwalk and grounds as open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, March to October. A one-mile stretch of road through the Buckeye-Thorsen Arm Unit is closed as a waterfowl sanctuary between mid-November and the end of February, so it should be open again in March. Check the refuge page for current alerts before you drive out.

• Black bears leaving winter dens

  Cubs born January to February · North of Mobile; Lookout Mountain; Talladega National Forest

  ADCNR rates the black bear rare in Alabama and says small populations live north of Mobile (Baldwin, Mobile and Washington counties), in the Lookout Mountain area of DeKalb and Cherokee counties, and in the Talladega National Forest area of Calhoun and Cleburne counties. Cubs weigh half a pound to a pound at birth and stay with the female for roughly eighteen months. A bear sighting in Alabama is unusual enough to report to ADCNR.

Which frogs are calling in Alabama in March, and are the gopher tortoises and alligators awake?

• Spring peepers

  Breeding January to April; calling heard from late November on the coast · Ponds, pools and swamps in or near woodlands, statewide

  ADCNR rates the northern spring peeper common statewide and describes a high, whistling peep. The frog is tiny, 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long, carrying a dark X on its back, and outside the breeding season it retreats to damp woods, so a March night is the time to hear them.

• Upland chorus frogs

  December through late April · Grassy areas, moist woodlands, river-bottom swamps and temporary pools; absent from the far south

  ADCNR describes the call as a series of short trills, like a finger run over the teeth of a comb, rising at the end. The species is widespread across Alabama except the extreme south, apart from the strips along the Conecuh and Chattahoochee rivers.

• Southern leopard frogs

  December through March, though breeding can happen year-round when conditions allow · Woodland pools, ditches and nearly any freshwater

  ADCNR describes this as a common frog that crosses roads at night while hunting. It matures by its first spring after hatching, and each female lays several hundred to several thousand eggs in the shallows.

• Fowler's toads

  March to August · Residential areas, open woodlands, ponds, ditches and flooded fields

  ADCNR calls Fowler's toad Alabama's most commonly encountered and widely distributed toad. Females lay long strings of about 7,000 eggs on aquatic plants, and the tadpoles transform within 30 to 60 days. Bird-voiced treefrogs, with their piping whistles, do not start until April, and the ADCNR account puts their season at April to July.

• Gopher tortoises

  Active burrows and foraging as days warm · Upland habitats of the Coastal Plain, in the southern part of the state

  Alabama Extension says gopher tortoise burrows average 14.8 feet long, with a rounded top and flat bottom. It is against the law to harm a gopher tortoise or its burrow. The tortoise is federally protected west of the Mobile and Tombigbee rivers and protected by the state throughout its range. ADCNR runs two iNaturalist projects for reports: the Alabama Gopher Tortoise Conservation Project and a road mortality project. Gulf State Park lists Alligator Nature Walks on its Gopher Tortoise Trail on Tuesday, March 9, at 9 a.m. and Wednesday, March 24, at 1 p.m.

• American alligators

  Mating April and May; nests of 30 to 70 eggs follow · Freshwater swamps, marshes, rivers, lakes and streams of the south

  ADCNR says alligators are most active in warm weather, when an adult eats about 20 pounds of food a week, and can go weeks without eating in winter. Mating season runs April through May, so courtship has not yet begun. Never feed or approach one. Gulf State Park's Alligator Adventures program with its young alligators is on Thursday, March 4, at 1 p.m.

Where do Alabama's spring wildflowers and pitcher plants bloom in March?

• Trout lilies on Monte Sano

  March, the trail's signature flower · Wildflower Trail, Cleermont Trailhead, 506 Cleermont Drive, Huntsville

  The Land Trust of North Alabama describes the 0.58-mile trail along Fagan Creek as mostly flat with some rocky sections. Yellow trout lilies carpet the mountainside and follow the sun, staying tightly closed on cool mornings and opening fully when the sun is high, so go in the afternoon. Virginia spring beauty can appear as early as January, shooting star grows in the damp areas near the creek, Virginia bluebells, reintroduced to the preserve, bloom in March and April, and rue anemone shows from March through May. Please stay on the trail and take only photographs.

• Pitcher plant bogs

  Flowers in early spring, tall pitchers later · Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog, County Road 17, a quarter mile north of U.S. 98; Gulf State Park program from Orange Beach

  ADCNR says the pitcher plants at Weeks Bay begin to blossom in early spring, with pitchers emerging later, orchids following in late spring and summer, and wildflowers in fall. It describes these bogs as among the most diverse habitats for flowering plants in North America. The carnivorous plants drown insects in tubular leaves, while sundews use sticky hairs like flypaper. The reserve uses prescribed burns to keep the bog open. Gulf State Park lists a Carnivorous Plant Hike on Thursday, March 25, at 9 a.m., meeting at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. Park on the east side of County Road 17 if you go to Weeks Bay.

Why do turkeys gobble in March, and what are anglers catching?

• Wild turkeys

  Mating from early March through April · Hardwood and mixed pine-hardwood forests with open areas, statewide

  ADCNR says gobblers use gobbling, strutting and drumming to attract hens, which then make ground nests hidden by woody plants, lay 10 to 12 eggs over two weeks, and incubate them for about 28 days. Chicks leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching. ADCNR puts poult survival from hatching to fall at about 35 percent. The bird is fairly common in all seasons and regions.

• White bass runs

  Spawning in March and April · Lower reaches of large flowing streams; best known in the Tennessee River near Florence, Lauderdale County

  ADCNR says white bass spawn at midwater depths in March and April, with males arriving at the spawning areas before females. They are most abundant in the Tennessee and Chattahoochee rivers, and ADCNR mentions the Tennessee River near Florence, in Lauderdale County, as a place where anglers fish the spawning runs. Eggs hatch within two to three days.

• Bass and crappie

  March and April for large bass · Reservoirs and small ponds

  ADCNR's spring fishing tips say anglers often catch the largest bass in small waters in late February and March, and that tournament data from Alabama reservoirs show more large bass caught in March and April. The same page ties the crappie spawn to the time when daffodil leaves push up, usually in February, so by March the spawn is likely under way.

What is March weather like in Alabama, and when is the last freeze?

When does Alabama's last spring freeze usually come?

How much daylight does Alabama gain in March?

What can you see in the night sky over Alabama in March?

• Morning Venus and Mercury

  Mercury best about March 8 to 25; greatest elongation March 16 at 11:20 p.m. CDT · Low in the east and east-southeast before sunrise

  Mercury reaches its greatest separation west of the Sun, 27.6 degrees, late on March 16 and rises roughly an hour before sunrise through mid-March. In spring that is a shallow angle for the northern hemisphere, so find a flat horizon. Brilliant Venus sits well above it, clearing the horizon roughly two hours ahead of the Sun on March 1. By our calculation the waning crescent Moon, only about an eighth lit, passes near Venus in the dawn sky on March 4 and again on March 5.

• Jupiter and Mars after dark

  All month; Moon near Jupiter the evenings of March 18 and 19; Mars and Jupiter 4.3 degrees apart the evening of March 30 · High in the south and southwest in the evening, in the region of Leo

  Jupiter and Mars were at opposition in February, so they are still up for much of the night. Our computation has the bright, gibbous Moon (about 88 percent lit) gliding within about a degree of Jupiter around dusk on March 18 and 19. Mars is fading and moving away from Earth, but on March 30 our figures put it a roomy 4 degrees from Jupiter at nightfall, a roomy pair high overhead that needs no binoculars.

• Saturn's last evening views

  Early March · Low in the west after sunset

  Early March is the last real chance for Saturn in the evening: our figures for central latitudes have it lingering 2 hours 35 minutes behind the Sun on March 1, a margin that shrinks to about 90 minutes by mid-month, before the planet slips into conjunction with the Sun on April 7. Catch it early in the month or wait for the morning sky in late April and May.

• The equinox and the Worm Moon

  Equinox Saturday, March 20, 3:25 p.m. CDT; full moon 5:44 a.m. CDT Monday, March 22 · Rising in the east around sunset

  Day and night are close to equal on the equinox, the start of astronomical spring. The full moon of March comes in the early morning of the 22nd, so the best evenings for a round, rising moon are Sunday the 21st and Monday the 22nd. A traditional name for it is the Worm Moon. By our calculation it is not a supermoon. By our calculation the young crescent Moon passes close to the Pleiades on the evening of March 13, a handy way to find that cluster.

• Milky Way before dawn

  March 3 to 17 and again March 31, by our own calculation · Low in the southeast before dawn, from a dark site on the Gulf Coast

  The center of the Milky Way returns to the pre-dawn sky this month, and the days surrounding the March 8 new moon give the best chance. By our calculation the window on the Gulf Coast, near 30 degrees north, lasts up to about two and a half hours; farther north it is shorter. Clouds, haze and city lights decide the rest.

What can Alabama families do outside in March 2027?

Safety notes for March in Alabama