What to look for in nature in Tennessee this April

Which birds arrive in Tennessee in April?

• White-eyed vireo

  TWRA says it arrives in early April and leaves around mid-October · Brushy places statewide: old fields, overgrown pastures, wood margins and streamside thickets

  This bird is more often heard than seen. The song is a quick, sharp run of five to seven notes, opening and closing with an emphatic chik. The nest hangs from a twig, usually within 8 feet of the ground. TWRA says the species appears to be declining in Tennessee, likely because hedgerows and brushy habitat are disappearing from farmland, so a singing bird along a fencerow is worth a note.

• Northern parula

  TWRA says early April to late September · Bottomland, riverside and ravine woodlands

  The song is a buzzy trill that climbs and then ends on an abrupt lower note, which TWRA calls a typical sound of bottomland and ravine forests in spring. The bird forages high at the tips of branches, so a view takes patience. Nests are built in hanging tangles of lichen or moss, between 9 and 95 feet up, averaging 51 feet in Tennessee.

• Wood thrush

  TWRA says present from the first half of April to mid-October · Larger, shaded woodlands, with the highest densities recorded in the Smoky and Cumberland mountains

  The song is a flute-like phrase that finishes in a trill. The bird needs a shaded understory and an open, leaf-littered floor. Nests sit 5 to 25 feet up, averaging about 10 feet. TWRA notes a significant decline in the breeding population since 1966, and the National Audubon Society lists the species on its Watch List.

• Scarlet tanager

  TWRA says mid-April to mid-October · Large blocks of mature hardwood or hardwood and pine forest, fairly common in the east and rare in the west and middle of the state

  The male is a vivid red with black wings. TWRA describes the song as a robin with a sore throat and says the best time to look is spring, before the canopy fills in. The population has been increasing in Tennessee since 1966, according to the Breeding Bird Survey.

• Cerulean warbler

  TWRA says mid-April to the end of August · Tall, mature deciduous forest, concentrated in the Cumberland Mountains

  TWRA calls this sky-blue warbler the fastest-declining eastern songbird and says about 80 percent of the population breeds in a region running from Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains to West Virginia. The agency adds that Tennessee holds the highest breeding densities ever recorded for the species. The male’s song has three parts (buzzy notes, a higher buzzy phrase and a closing trill), and the nest is placed high on a horizontal branch, so most people get only a flash of blue overhead.

What is nesting at Reelfoot Lake and along the Mississippi in April?

• Prothonotary warbler

  TWRA says it is present from early April to early August, typically arriving from late March through early April · Wooded swamps, flooded bottomland forests and slow rivers; TWRA names the Reelfoot Lake area and Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park among the best places

  This golden-yellow warbler is the only eastern warbler that nests in a cavity. It prefers old downy woodpecker holes and will use nest boxes, lining them with moss and liverworts about 6.5 feet up. Scan low over still water, where the yellow stands out against the shadow.

• Mississippi kite

  TWRA says late April to early September · Mature woodland and bottomland near the Mississippi River; fairly common in West Tennessee, a rare migrant elsewhere

  The kite is a slim gray hawk that hunts insects on the wing and gathers in flocks of 15 or more where food is plentiful. Between 1983 and 2008, wildlife managers moved more than 400 young kites from Kansas to Memphis, Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge and Paris Landing State Park, and TWRA says breeding populations in these areas have dramatically increased. Pairs lay two eggs in a crow-sized nest near a treetop. TWRA also warns that kites are known to attack people who walk too close to a nest.

Where is the best April wildflower bloom in Tennessee?

• Trilliums and the Smokies’ spring ephemerals

  Mid- to late April at low elevations in the Smokies, according to the park · Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including the roadsides and trails near the base of the mountains

  The park counts 10 species of trillium. It names lady slipper orchids, showy orchis, crested dwarf iris, fire pink, columbine, bleeding heart, phacelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, little brown jugs and violets among its spring ephemerals. The white trillium turns pink as its flowers age. They are called ephemerals because they bloom and fade quickly, ahead of the leaves overhead. Keep to the path and leave blossoms where they grow.

• Collins Gulf and the South Cumberland Plateau

  Spring; the state page gives no bloom dates · Collins Gulf, part of Savage Gulf State Natural Area, Grundy and Sequatchie counties (Central time)

  The state natural areas program says Collins Gulf is noted for a spectacular display of spring wildflowers. The natural area spans 15,590 acres, includes old-growth forest in the gorge and holds the Stone Door, a crevice 10 by 100 feet. Bring a plant guide and check with the park about trail conditions before you go.

• Cedar glades of Middle Tennessee

  Spring; the state’s natural areas page gives no bloom dates, so go when a local group or park says the glades are in flower · Cedars of Lebanon State Natural Area and State Park, Wilson County (Central time)

  Thin soil over limestone and open patches among red cedars give glades their own community of plants. The state natural areas page lists the federally endangered leafy prairie clover and the Tennessee coneflower, along with Tennessee milkvetch, limestone flame flower and yellow sunnybell. A Middle Tennessee State University news release calls the Tennessee coneflower the first Tennessee plant on the Endangered Species List and says many glade plants occur nowhere else in the world. The natural area has no developed parking or trails, so many visitors head to the state park instead. Tread lightly, because the soil is thin and easy to damage.

When do Tennessee’s redbud and dogwood bloom, and when do the leaves open?

• Eastern redbud, finishing

  The UT Gardens give mid- to late March through mid-April · Woodland edges, roadsides and yards statewide

  The UT Gardens’ window ends in mid-April, so by the middle of the month most redbuds are finishing. If you are following one tree, record the day its petals fall and the day its first leaf unfolds.

• Flowering dogwood

  After redbud; a specific date varies with elevation and weather · Understory of woodlands statewide; East Tennessee marks the bloom with Knoxville’s Dogwood Arts Festival

  The UT Gardens explain that the four showy white, pink or red parts of the flower are not petals but bracts, scales that grow large and bright, and that the tree feeds more than 40 species of birds in winter. The University has bred disease-resistant selections because dogwood anthracnose and powdery mildew harm the species.

Which frogs, toads and salamanders can you find in Tennessee in April?

• Cope’s gray treefrog

  TWRA says calls are heard from late March through October, peaking May through July · Treetops statewide; small pools, rain barrels and swimming pools when breeding

  The call is a short, raspy trill on one pitch, faster than the gray treefrog’s. An egg mass of 1,000 to 2,000 eggs breaks into small clusters of 10 to 40 almost at once. The tadpoles hatch in three to seven days and change into frogs in about six weeks.

• American toad

  TWRA says breeding typically takes place in March or April and can run into July · Statewide, around shallow fishless water

  TWRA describes the male’s call as a long trill lasting 4 to 20 seconds, growing insistent, loud and frequent in the breeding season. The Fowler’s toad, with a short, unmusical waaah, typically breeds in May or June, so a trill at a pool in April is more likely an American toad.

• Smokies salamanders

  Year-round; spring rain is the time to look · Streams and forest floors of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

  The park counts 31 salamander species, of which 25 are lungless, and four new species were found between 2020 and 2024. It says that salamanders make up the majority of the vertebrate animals by weight in the park on a given day. Jordan’s salamander and the Cherokee black-bellied salamander live only in the Smokies region. Look rather than handle, and put back any rock or log you turn.

What are Tennessee’s bears, turkeys, elk and fish doing in April?

• Wild turkeys

  TWRA says males begin vying for mates in late winter or early spring · Every county, in woods and along their edges

  A tom puffs his feathers and fans his tail in a strut and gobbles to attract hens. The hen builds a shallow, leaf-lined nest on the ground at the base of a tree or bush, lays 7 to 14 eggs (11 on average) and incubates for 27 to 28 days. TWRA says wild turkeys are now found in every county in the state.

• Black bears and cubs

  The Smokies park says cubs leave the den in late March or April, at about five pounds · Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the mountains of East Tennessee

  Cubs stay with their mother for about 18 months. The park estimates roughly 1,900 bears live inside it, about two per square mile, and says approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs a bear, is illegal. If a bear changes its behavior because of you, you are too close: back away slowly, facing it.

• Elk regrowing antlers

  TWRA says bulls shed antlers in February or March, so those you see now are growing new ones; calves are born from late May through June · North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area; the Hatfield Knob viewing tower in Campbell County (Eastern time)

  TWRA released 201 elk between 2000 and 2008 into a restoration zone of 670,000 acres in Scott, Morgan, Campbell, Anderson and Claiborne counties. A University of Tennessee study found about 16,000 people visit the tower each year, and a live camera is online if the weather is poor.

• White bass and crappie

  TWRA says white bass and yellow bass gather in upstream reaches in March and April, and that crappie move shallow to spawn in early April · The Stones River arms of J. Percy Priest Reservoir; the headwaters of Douglas Reservoir, where TWRA gives January through April for the white bass run

  At Percy Priest the fish stack up in the East and West forks of the Stones River and in Stewart Creek, where TWRA lists several boat and bank access points. Douglas Reservoir is called the best crappie reservoir in East Tennessee, with February through early May the best time. Watching a run from a bank is simple; fishing needs a license and attention to current size and creel limits.

How warm, wet and stormy is April in Tennessee?

• Tornado season

  Spring is Tennessee’s most active severe-weather season; April 27, 2011 is the reminder · Statewide

  The National Weather Service office in Nashville says the April 2011 outbreak produced at least 28 mostly weak tornadoes in Middle Tennessee, with no deaths there, and that rain-cooled air from an earlier squall line helped protect the area from the devastating storms that hit Alabama and East Tennessee later that day. The Morristown office lists three EF-4 tornadoes in its area, including the Collegedale tornado, which killed 13 people. The state’s emergency agency lists tornadoes, flash flooding, damaging winds and lightning among the state’s threats, which can develop quickly.

• Late freezes, not gone yet

  The last-freeze table in the next section shows the nine-in-ten date reaching late April or early May on the plateau and in the northeast · The Cumberland Plateau, Bristol area and mountains

  Crossville averages 4.0 nights at or below 32 °F in April, and Bristol 3.5. Flowers, fruit blossoms and garden seedlings in those places can still be caught.

When is the last spring freeze in Tennessee?

How much daylight does Tennessee gain in April?

What can you see in Tennessee’s night sky in April 2027?

• The Pink Moon

  Full on Tuesday, April 20; best seen that evening as it rises · Anywhere with a clear eastern horizon at dusk

  The Old Farmer’s Almanac names April’s full moon the Pink Moon for the early-blooming moss pink, or creeping phlox, not for any color in the sky. The moon is full at 5:27 p.m. Central, before it has risen, so look for it on the horizon around 8 p.m. local time. By our own calculation moonrise that evening is about 7:50 p.m. in Chicago, 7:58 p.m. in Houston and 8:19 p.m. in Atlanta, so expect roughly the same hour in Tennessee.

• Venus in the dawn

  All month, in the east before sunrise · Low in the east-southeast to east

  Venus shines at about magnitude -3.9. At the start of the month Venus is up well ahead of dawn (about 75 minutes, by our own computation), a head start that shrinks week by week. On the mornings of Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th a slim old crescent Moon hangs close by.

• Jupiter and Mars after dark

  All month; the Moon passes both on the evenings of April 14 and 15 · High in the south and southwest in the evening, in the region where Leo meets Cancer

  Jupiter stays up late all month; on April 1 it sets roughly nine hours after the sun does. Mars, fading to about magnitude 0.0 by mid-month, sits nearby. The Moon, 68 percent lit and waxing, drifts past Jupiter on the 14th and 15th (closest on the 15th) and stands about 3 degrees from Mars on the 15th.

• The Lyrid meteors, a poor year

  Peak on the night of Thursday, April 22, at about 8:41 p.m. Central (9:41 p.m. Eastern) · Open sky away from lights, looking east to northeast

  The Lyrids are active from about April 14 to April 30, and the American Meteor Society and SeaSky put the best rate near 20 an hour in a dark sky. This year the Moon, just three days past full and almost round, comes up around 10 p.m. in cities near Tennessee, so only the first hours of night are moonless, with Lyra still hugging the eastern horizon. Plan on a few meteors an hour at most. The shower now and then throws a short burst nobody can forecast.

What can Tennessee families do outdoors in April 2027?

Safety notes for April in Tennessee