What to look for in nature in Louisiana this February

Nesting starts in late winter, and some of the earliest nests are already built in February. Louisiana’s flock of whooping cranes is a non-migratory one: it began in 2011 when LDWF released 10 young birds on its White Lake property in Vermilion Parish, the first wild whoopers in the state since the last one was captured at White Lake in 1950. The cranes now live year round in the flat farm and marsh country of the southwest, and in the past few winters they have begun raising their own young.

LDWF’s report on the 2024 breeding season gives a clear picture of the calendar. That year 15 pairs made 24 nests in seven parishes. The first was started on January 23, and the first attempts of the other pairs followed in a spread: one in January, four in February, seven in March and three in April, with late re-nests running into June. One chick hatched on February 23 in Calcasieu Parish. The surprise is where the birds chose to build: 18 of the 24 nests were on private farmland, and all but two of those sat in fields that were actively being crawfished. The other six were in marsh, two of them at White Lake.

The 2026 season set a record. LDWF announced in July that 18 of the 20 pairs that nested hatched at least one chick and that 10 young cranes fledged, the most for this project or for any whooping crane reintroduction. That brought the Louisiana flock to 84 birds, 32 of them hatched in the wild here. The first wild-hatched chick in Louisiana came in April 2016, the state’s first hatch in more than 75 years.

Whooping cranes stand about five feet tall, are white with a red crown and a black face mark, and show black wing tips in flight, with neck and legs stretched straight out. LDWF tracked the flock across 24 parishes in 2023–24, and the 2024 nests and chicks the report describes were in Jefferson Davis, Calcasieu, Cameron and Vermilion parishes, among others. If you see one this month, especially a pair standing close together in a flooded field, stay in your car, keep well back, and report the sighting on LDWF’s whooping crane page. The birds are protected by federal and state law, and LDWF asks anyone who sees one harassed to call its enforcement line at 1-800-442-2511.

North, and many of them leave in February. American woodcock come to Louisiana for the winter from breeding grounds that stretch from the Great Lakes to Maine and southern Canada. Hunting season closed January 31, and from here to early March the state’s woodcock are getting ready to go.

Two studies with LDWF biologists show how that happens. In the early 1980s, the department examined woodcock taken in Louisiana in the first half of February. More than nine in ten of the 262 males were already in breeding condition, but only 2.4 percent of the 376 females were close to laying, and the authors concluded that woodcock nesting in Louisiana is uncommon, scattered through the north and center of the state and only part of the south. Three decades later, researchers fitted satellite transmitters to woodcock wintering in Louisiana and Texas and followed them north. Across the 40 tagged birds they followed through spring, the average departure was February 22 (the median was February 19), with the earliest leaving on February 1 and the latest on March 16. The average trip lasted about 53 days with six or so stopovers and covered roughly 1,900 kilometers, about 1,180 miles, in a straight line. Several of the birds caught in Louisiana and Texas ended up nesting as far away as Ontario and Quebec.

Before they leave, the males sing. The federal wildlife agency’s spring singing-ground survey counts males by this show: a buzzy ground call, the “peent,” followed by a spiraling flight upward and a fluttering, chirping descent, with sound made by both voice and wings. LDWF’s habitat work on Sherburne WMA found that woodcock use old fields with scattered brush at night, for both courtship and feeding, and damp thickets by day.

To hear one, go out on a still evening early in the month, when more birds are still here. Stand quietly at the edge of an overgrown field beside moist woods, in the Atchafalaya bottoms or the pine and hardwood country of central and north Louisiana, starting about 15 minutes after sunset. Listen for the peent from the ground, then watch the dim sky for a small, chunky bird on whistling wings.

Usually beginning in February, as shallow water warms. Sac-a-lait, the Cajun French name for crappie (north Louisianans call them white perch), are Louisiana’s official state freshwater fish, and the state has two kinds. LSU’s Sea Grant fact sheet explains that black crappie prefer clear, still lakes and back swamps, while white crappie favor the moving, muddier water of rivers and bayous. They are the earliest spawners of their family, ahead of bass and bream, and begin to spawn in earnest once water reaches about 61 °F.

LDWF’s winter fishing forecast describes the move. When the water is in the 50s or colder, sac-a-lait hold in deep water along river channels, creek bends and deep cover. As surface temperatures climb into the 60 to 65 degree range, they shift toward shallow spawning areas, gathering in large numbers near brush, laid-down trees, cypress knees and the edges of grass beds, and they nest at the base of that cover. The forecast notes that crappie and bass head to their spawning grounds in February, with sunfish close behind to feed on the eggs. In its March forecast, the department says sac-a-lait are still spawning in parts of the state, and that the peak is over by April.

The fish are touchy about water clarity. The Sea Grant sheet cites research showing that adults abandon nests when muddy water darkens the bottom, so a stretch of heavy rain can shut down a spawn that looked ready to go.

If you are not fishing, a quiet paddle or a walk along a clear, shallow bayou on a warm afternoon may show you the fish holding near stumps and knees. Kids can practice at one of LDWF’s Get Out & Fish! ponds, described in the families section.

The first ones usually arrive late in February. Baton Rouge Audubon Society’s guide to feeding hummingbirds explains that ruby-throats spend the winter in Mexico and Central America and generally return to the Gulf Coast in late February and March. Because they nest all the way from the coast to Canada, the wave of returning birds keeps moving north through the state and beyond for a month or more. The society’s advice is simple: hang feeders in February, and keep the nectar fresh.

At the same time, a different set of hummingbirds is about to leave. According to the society, almost any hummingbird at a Louisiana feeder from November through February belongs to a western species, and these winter visitors usually stay through February or March before setting off across the continent. Rufous hummingbirds are the most frequent; black-chinned and the larger, green-throated buff-bellied hummingbird come next. So a feeder in late February can host a departing western visitor and an arriving ruby-throat in the same week.

An adult male ruby-throat shows a glittering red throat and green back; a rufous is washed with orange-brown on the sides and tail. Females and young are far harder, and banders often need the bird in hand.

Report your first ruby-throat of the year to Journey North’s hummingbird map, which charts the spring arrival across the continent, and report any western hummingbird to the society so local banders can follow it. The society’s recipe is a quarter cup of plain table sugar to each cup of water, with no red coloring, and it says to discard the mix and wash the feeder once it turns cloudy.

Many of them are. LDWF’s fact sheet on the Louisiana black bear says females produce one to five cubs, two on average, every other year in January or February. The cubs are born in the den, which for this subspecies can be a large tree cavity, a slash pile, a thicket or simply a bed in thick vegetation, and they stay inside with their mother until spring.

The state’s bear management plan explains why mothers stay put even in a mild winter. Some Louisiana males remain active all season when food is around, but a pregnant female must den, because cubs are born only in the winter den. During dormancy, the plan notes, a bear’s metabolism drops by half and it may go without eating or drinking. When the dormant period ends in March or April, females with new cubs are usually the last bears to come out. The cubs spend the next winter denned with their mother as yearlings and stay with her until they are about 15 to 18 months old.

Biologists have used this denning season to help the population grow. From 2001 to 2009, according to the plan, crews moved 48 adult females, together with 104 cubs, in winter from the Tensas River basin to east-central Louisiana to start a new breeding group. LDWF’s fact sheet places today’s bears in three main areas: around Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in the northeast, the northern Atchafalaya Basin near Pointe Coupee Parish, and the lower Atchafalaya, mostly in St. Mary Parish.

February is not a month to go looking for bears. If you come on a big hollow cypress or a brush pile with fresh digging in bear country, back away and leave it undisturbed. A mother flushed from her den may abandon the cubs.

Spring comes early to Louisiana woods and wet bottoms. These five are worth a walk to find.

Milder than January, wet, and changeable. In NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals, February highs average from about 61 °F at Monroe to 67 °F at Lake Charles, and every station in the table gets fewer freezing nights than in January. Monroe still averages between six and seven February nights at or below 32 °F, while New Orleans International Airport averages less than one. Rain is spread evenly, with roughly 3 to 5 inches in a normal February.

February is also when the spring severe weather season can wake up. On February 7, 2017, the National Weather Service in Slidell rated an EF-3 tornado with 150 mph winds in eastern New Orleans; it damaged 638 homes and at least 40 businesses. Last winter, the Louisiana Office of State Climatology counted at least 20 tornadoes in a squall line on the evening and night of February 14–15, 2026, none stronger than EF-1, after weather offices issued 33 tornado warnings in seven and a half hours. That same February was otherwise warm and very dry: 1.85 inches of rain statewide by the preliminary estimate, the lowest February total since 2000, and an average temperature 4.3 degrees above normal.

This winter brings a different setup. In the September 10 ENSO discussion, the federal Climate Prediction Center put the chance that El Niño reaches the very strong category this winter at better than nine in ten. In a June interview with WWNO, state climatologist Jay Grymes said that a lingering El Niño typically makes the coastal parishes wetter than normal in winter and spring, which raises the flood threat, and that in the southern half of the state wet winters tend to run a little warm, with more Gulf air and cold snaps that are shorter and less intense. On tornadoes, NOAA’s ENSO blog says the strongest signal in Louisiana and its neighbors favors more activity in La Niña, not El Niño, but adds that the year-to-year range is huge, and some El Niño years are still active. NOAA refreshes its seasonal forecast monthly; the newest maps are on the federal 90-day outlook page. For the odds of a late frost in your own town, see the Louisiana frost dates, and check the weather forecast page before a trip to the marsh.

From about 43 minutes on the coast to 50 in the far northwest, and the pace keeps picking up. Each day now adds a little more light than the one before, and sunrises are moving earlier as well as sunsets later. Groundhog Day is Tuesday, February 2. Astronomically, though, the middle of winter (the instant midway between solstice and equinox) falls on February 3–4.

North Louisiana gains a few more minutes than the coast, because the farther a place is from the equator, the faster its days lengthen toward spring. Daylight saving time begins Sunday, March 14, and the clock change shifts sunset an hour later in one night. For your own parish, the day length calculator lists sunrise, sunset and twilight for any date.

The annular solar eclipse of February 6 belongs to the Southern Hemisphere (its ring path crosses southern South America before running out over the ocean toward Africa), and Louisianans will see none of it. The darkest evenings for stars come around that new moon, roughly February 2 through 11. Look over the cloud cover forecast first, and see the lunar calendar for moonrise and moonset times.

• Great Backyard Bird Count, February 12–15. Free, and a 15-minute count from a kitchen window is enough.
• Bayou Gardens Open House, Saturday, February 27, 2027. The Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges headquarters in Lacombe, built around a historic camellia and azalea garden, opens for free guided garden and history tours, gardening workshops and talks, with native plants for sale to support the refuge friends group. The same visitor center runs free Nature Explorers sessions for children up to age 6, held twice a month on Fridays (the first and the third), and a fourth-Friday Homeschool Friday for children from kindergarten up to grade 8; the refuge had not posted the February 2027 date when we checked, so confirm it and register by email with the refuge ranger.
• Bird walks with Baton Rouge Audubon. The society runs regular monthly bird walks, including one at BREC’s Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center and one at the Audubon State Historic Site at Oakley in St. Francisville (both charge a small entry fee). The society had not yet listed its February 2027 dates and times in early October; check with the organizer on its calendar before going.
• Eagle Expo on the Cajun Coast. The Cajun Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Eagle Expo, based in Morgan City, is an annual February event with boat tours into the Atchafalaya Basin and the bayous to see bald eagles and their nests, plus talks by birders and wildlife experts. The 2025 edition ran in the third week of February. No 2027 schedule was posted when we checked; watch cajuncoast.com.
• Trout fishing in a city park. LDWF stocks rainbow trout in its Get Out & Fish! ponds in community parks from mid-January to early February, depending on water temperature. A light line, a small hook and a little corn or a small spinner are all a child needs. Check the program page for pond locations and rules.
• Hummingbird and crane reports. Report the year’s first ruby-throat to Journey North, and any whooping crane you see to LDWF.

We checked each organizer’s page on October 2, 2026. Dates change and cold rain cancels outdoor programs, so confirm before you go. Other months for Louisiana, and every other state, are in our seasonal nature guides, including the January page on eaglets and ducks. A first-hummingbird date or a woodcock evening fits neatly on one page of the Naturalist’s Field Journal.

• What is still open. In LDWF’s 2026–27 regulations, the last statewide deer season this month is archery, which runs to February 15 in Deer Areas 5, 6 and 9 only; all firearms deer seasons have closed. Quail, rabbit and squirrel stay open through February 28, and so does snipe (reopened January 25). Duck seasons are over except for an East Zone youth and veterans day on Saturday, February 6. The regular goose seasons close February 7, and the light-goose conservation order follows from February 8 to March 7, with shooting allowed until half an hour after sunset. Furbearer trapping continues to March 31.
• Hunter Orange and Blaze Pink in February. Because no firearms deer season is open, the statewide requirement for 400 square inches of either color does not apply this month. Some WMA rules still do. Quail and woodcock hunters on WMAs, and anyone in a special dog season for rabbit, squirrel or feral hogs, must wear at least an orange or pink cap. During the special shotgun feral hog seasons on four coastal WMAs (Atchafalaya Delta, Pass-a-Loutre, Pointe-aux-Chenes and Salvador), hunters must show the full 400 square inches plus a cap; check each WMA’s schedule for its dates. LDWF encourages everyone afield in hunting season to wear the colors, and a bright hat is sensible for hikers on public land.
• Storms. February squall lines can bring tornadoes after dark. Set your phone to receive warnings, keep a weather radio handy, and pick a shelter spot at home and at camp before the season starts.
• Flooding and high water. A rainy El Niño season can put low roads, trails and boat launches underwater fast. Turn around rather than drive through water on a road, and look up river stages before launching a boat.
• Cold water and fog. Air on a sunny February afternoon may feel like spring while lakes and bayous remain cold enough to trigger cold shock. Put on a life jacket before stepping into a canoe or kayak. Dense fog on calm mornings is common near the coast, the big lakes and the Atchafalaya; slow down and use low beams.
• A last freeze. Hard freezes are still possible, especially in the north. Hold off on setting out tender plants until your parish’s typical last frost has passed.
• Wildlife. Alligators bask on warm February days and can be quick. Keep dogs leashed near water and give every gator plenty of room.