What to look for in nature in Tennessee this May

What comes out after dark in Tennessee in May?

• Synchronous fireflies

  The National Park Service says the mating season lasts about two to three weeks, and records since 1993 place the peak between the third week of May and the third week of June · Elkmont, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, by vehicle reservation only during the viewing window

  Males of this species flash five to eight times and then go dark for about eight seconds, and their rhythms line up as more join in. The park watches soil temperature to predict the dates, and it says heavy rain often stops the flashing while mist usually does not. Temperatures below 50 °F reduce activity. The park announces each year’s dates in April, so the 2027 window and lottery were not yet published when we checked; in 2026 the park ran an entry lottery with a $1 application fee and an eight-night window running May 20 to 27, plus a $29 charge for winners. Treat those as an example of how it works and read the park’s page for 2027.

• How to watch without spoiling it

  Any firefly evening · A trail, field edge or Elkmont if you hold a reservation

  The park asks for a red light, made with several layers of red cellophane over a flashlight or a red-filter lamp, aimed at the ground only while you walk and switched off at your viewing spot. Do not catch fireflies, and if one lands on you, hold still until it leaves. This is bear country, so pack out all food and trash.

• Eastern whip-poor-will

  TWRA says it arrives in late March and calls after dusk and before dawn through late spring and early summer · Upland deciduous and mixed forest with openings, often above 2,000 feet in East Tennessee

  TWRA calls it more often heard than seen, and most likely to be heard on moonlit nights from late March through July. Because egg-laying is timed to the lunar cycle, with eggs hatching about 10 days before the full moon, the weeks around the Flower Moon of May 20 are a fine time to stand at a forest edge near dusk and listen. Incubation lasts 19 to 20 days, and young fly at about 19 days.

• Common nighthawk

  TWRA says it is present from late April through early October · Cedar glades in Middle Tennessee, plus gravel rooftops and lighted urban areas

  Look up near dusk for a long-winged bird with a bouncy, erratic flight and listen for a nasal buzzing peent. Males dive almost to the ground and make a booming sound with their wings. Females lay usually two eggs straight on bare ground or gravel, with no nest, and the young fly at about 23 days. TWRA notes that populations have declined in recent years.

Which birds are passing through or just arriving in Tennessee in May?

• Swainson’s thrush

  TWRA says it passes through from late April to late May · Moist woodlands, and any large wooded area during migration

  A shy, ground-feeding thrush that only migrates through Tennessee and has no known nesting records here. The song is a rising spiral of flutelike notes, but outside the breeding season you are more likely to hear a note like a drop of water, a whoit. It is somewhat more numerous in spring than in fall.

• Rose-breasted grosbeak

  TWRA calls it a fairly common migrant from mid-April through mid-May · Statewide in migration; nesting only in the higher mountains of East Tennessee

  The black-and-white male with a red bib is easy to spot once it is singing in a treetop. It breeds only in the high country, with Frozen Head State Natural Area above about 3,000 feet, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Unaka and Roan Mountains named as places to look. Nests sit in shrubs or small trees, about 13 feet up on average.

• Indigo bunting

  TWRA says it reaches Tennessee in mid-April and leaves by mid-October · Brushy field edges, fencerows, powerline cuts and forest openings, at every elevation

  Males sing from wires and treetops well into summer, in paired warbling phrases that are fairly easy to learn. The female alone builds a low cup nest, about 3 feet up on average in Tennessee, and pairs often raise two or more broods in a season.

• Dickcissel

  TWRA says it usually arrives in early May and leaves by late August · Large grass fields and hayfields; TWRA names Bark Camp Barrens (Coffee County), Ernest Rice WMA (Dyer County) and Bells Bend Park in Nashville

  The song is a series of short, dry, insect-like phrases from a fence post or weed stalk. The female alone builds the nest, a bulky cup in low shrubs or weeds, and the young leave about 8 to 10 days after hatching. TWRA’s page is not consistent about whether the bird is commonest in the east or the west, so go by local reports.

• Yellow-billed cuckoo

  TWRA says it arrives in late April or May and leaves by mid-October · Woodlands statewide

  A lanky, shy bird that eats mostly caterpillars, especially hairy ones, and sometimes nests in step with outbreaks of cicadas and tent caterpillars. The song ends in a hollow klop klop klop, and it calls more on cloudy days, which earned it the name rain crow, although TWRA says its skill at forecasting rain has never been documented. From egg-laying to fledging takes only about 17 days.

Which Tennessee birds are nesting and raising young in May?

• Ruby-throated hummingbird

  TWRA says summer residents stay from mid-April to early October · Gardens, woodland edges and streamsides statewide

  The female builds a walnut-sized cup of thistle and dandelion down, bound with spider web and covered with lichen, often on a small branch over a stream or other opening. She incubates two pea-sized eggs alone for 12 to 16 days, and nestlings stay 14 to 31 days, usually 18 to 23. After they leave, the young are larger than their mother and she feeds them about 10 more days. TWRA says feeder location matters more to the birds than feeder color.

• Kentucky warbler

  TWRA says it reaches Tennessee around mid-April; most eggs are laid from mid-May to early June · Large forest tracts with a dense understory

  A bird that nests on the ground, well hidden in a thicket, so the best clue is the male’s rolling song, which TWRA says each bird keeps at one pitch for life. TWRA says it is usually absent where people or deer have trampled or browsed the ground cover. Brown-headed cowbirds often lay in its nests.

• Cerulean warbler on territory

  TWRA says it arrives in mid-April and leaves by the end of August · Mature forest on steep ridges and in bottomlands; TWRA names Frozen Head State Natural Area, Edgar Evans State Park, Center Hill Lake, Meeman-Shelby Forest and the North Cumberland WMA

  The nest is a small cup on a horizontal limb high in the canopy, which is why a bird in the open is so hard to see. TWRA says the female incubates 3 to 4 eggs for 11 to 12 days and the young fledge in about 11 days. The agency calls it the fastest declining eastern songbird and says the North Cumberland WMA has the highest density of nesting ceruleans anywhere. Stay on trails near singing males.

• Wild turkey hens and poults

  TWRA places gobbling mainly in spring; incubation runs 27 to 28 days · Woods, fields and edges statewide

  Each hen nests alone in a shallow scrape lined with leaves or grass beside a tree or bush and lays 7 to 14 eggs. If a nest fails, a hen may try again, sometimes three or four times, so you may see broods of different ages. Poults leave the nest soon after hatching and fly at about 8 to 10 days old. A hen with poults is a good reason to keep a dog on a leash.

• Least terns on the Mississippi

  TWRA says they arrive by mid-May in West Tennessee and are on nest sites by late May · Sandbars of the Mississippi River

  The nest is a shallow scrape in sand or pebbles, usually near driftwood, and both parents incubate 2 to 3 eggs for 20 to 25 days. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the inland population as endangered in 1985, and Tennessee lists it too. TWRA says recreation on nesting beaches conflicts with breeding, so keep off colonies you find.

• Mississippi kites

  TWRA says they arrive in late April and leave by early September · Woodlands, bottomlands and some urban and suburban neighborhoods

  Graceful raptors that catch dragonflies and other insects in flight. The nest is crow-sized and near the top of a tall tree, with usually 2 eggs, incubated 29 to 31 days by both adults, and the young leave at about 34 days. TWRA warns that kites nesting in towns have attacked people passing near the nest.

What is blooming in the mountains and the cedar glades in May?

• Mountain laurel

  The Smokies park says it blooms from early May through June · Rocky ridges and dry slopes in the Smokies and the eastern mountains

  Pink-and-white clusters open on dry, rocky slopes, often at the same time as the last flame azaleas.

• Flame azalea

  The park says it blooms at low and mid elevations in April and May · Low and mid-elevation slopes in the Smokies

  A May hike below the highest ridges can still turn up azaleas, but they finish before June. Higher in the mountains, the Catawba rhododendron grows mainly above 3,500 feet and peaks in June, and the rosebay rhododendron blooms in June at lower elevations. The grassy balds peak later: Gregory Bald near the turn of June into July and Andrews Bald in early July, so save those trips.

• Cedar glade specialists

  The Cedars of Lebanon state natural area page names the species but gives no bloom dates; ask the Division of Natural Areas · Limestone glades of Middle Tennessee, including Cedars of Lebanon State Forest

  The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation lists rare glade plants including the federally endangered leafy prairie clover, the Tennessee coneflower, delisted as endangered in 2011, and the Tennessee milkvetch, evolvulus, limestone flame flower and yellow sunnybell. Middle Tennessee State University’s glade center calls the coneflower the first plant in Tennessee listed as endangered. Stay on marked paths: glade soils are thin and easily scarred.

• The Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade Wildflower Festival

  The 2026 festival ran April 30 and May 1 to 3; no 2027 dates were posted · Cedars of Lebanon State Park and nearby glades

  The festival in 2026 offered botany hikes, bike rides, a cave program, an owl prowl and a nightjar program at Vesta Cedar Glade. It is an annual event, so ask the organizers at Middle Tennessee State University or the park office whether 2027 follows the same weekend. Some events need advance registration and a small fee.

What are Tennessee’s young animals, bears, elk and amphibians doing in May?

• Elk calves

  The National Park Service and TWRA both put most births from late May through June · The North Cumberland WMA (Scott, Morgan, Campbell, Anderson and Claiborne counties); Cataloochee, Balsam Mountain and Oconaluftee in the Smokies

  TWRA says calves are usually single, spotted, and able to walk within minutes. The Smokies park says mothers often leave a calf alone in a safe place while they feed nearby, and that a lone calf is not necessarily abandoned. Stay at least 25 yards (75 feet) from elk in the park, which is a legal limit with fines, and do not enter fields. TWRA’s elk viewing tower at Hatfield Knob has a live camera.

• White-tailed deer fawns

  The Tennessee Aquarium says many mammals give birth in late April and May · Brushy edges, fields and woods statewide

  The aquarium says fawns are often hidden in leaf litter or beneath bushes while their mothers feed and come back later. TWRA’s deer page says the spots on a young fawn are camouflage for hiding from predators and that does aged two and a half or older in good habitat usually have two fawns. If you find a fawn, leave it where it is.

• Black bear yearlings

  The Smokies park says bear activity is especially high from May to August · The Smokies and the eastern mountains

  Cubs leave the den about April, but TWRA says in late spring and early summer mothers push their yearlings away to find their own ranges. Yearlings weigh about 40 to 100 pounds, look gangly with big ears, and may be mistaken for cubs. The park estimates about 1,900 bears, roughly two per square mile. Do not approach: within the park it is illegal to come within 50 yards (150 feet). TWRA says a lone cub is not necessarily an orphan, and it steps in only in narrow cases, such as a mother confirmed dead.

• Eastern box turtle

  The Tennessee Aquarium says box turtles become much more active in late spring · Woods, field edges and roadsides statewide

  TWRA says females dig a nest in sandy or loose soil and lay 3 to 8 white eggs, up to three clutches a year. The aquarium advises that a turtle crossing a road be carried to the side it was already heading toward, and only when that is safe.

• Salamanders and hellbenders

  The Smokies park gives no seasonal timing, but warm wet nights suit the lungless species · Smokies streams and damp forest floors

  The park counts 31 salamander species there, 25 of them lungless, and calls the Smokies the Salamander Capital of the World. It says the eastern hellbender can exceed two feet in length. The Tennessee Aquarium says slimy and red-backed salamanders hide under logs and leaf litter. Put back any log or rock you turn over exactly as it was.

How warm, wet and stormy is May in Tennessee?

• A very wet May is on the record

  The National Weather Service’s Nashville climate page lists May 2010 as the wettest May on its record, with 16.43 inches · Nashville

  The same page lists 7.25 inches on May 2, 2010, the most rain in one day of any May, against a normal of 5.02 inches for the whole month. It gives 34 °F as the record low for May and 96 °F, set in 1937, as the record high, so the month can still surprise. The point for a visitor is that creeks and low roads can flood fast after a stalled storm.

• Storms and flash floods

  TEMA calls spring the start of the state’s most active weather season · Statewide

  The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency says the state faces tornadoes, flash flooding, damaging winds, lightning and extreme temperatures every year, and that hazards can develop quickly. It recommends learning your risk, writing a plan, stocking three days of supplies, using several alert methods and identifying a safe place. Savage Gulf’s state natural area page warns that heavy rain can cause flash floods and streams can turn dangerous quickly.

When is the last spring freeze in Tennessee?

How much daylight does Tennessee gain in May?

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

• Eta Aquariid meteors, a good year

  Best mornings May 5, 6 and 7, before dawn · Any dark site with a view to the east and southeast

  Meteors from this stream turn up from roughly April 19 into late May, and the best night runs from May 5 into May 6. New moon arrives on the 6th, and the Moon is then a mere 1 to 2 percent crescent. A watcher in the southern two-thirds of the country might count 10 to 30 an hour, mostly in the final two or three hours of darkness, and fewer in the north, where Aquarius comes up just ahead of the dawn. Bring a reclining chair and a hat, and allow half an hour for your eyes to adjust.

• The Flower Moon, a seasonal Blue Moon

  Full on Thursday, May 20, at 5:59 a.m. CDT (6:59 a.m. EDT); best evening Wednesday, May 19 · Any clear eastern horizon

  Wednesday, May 19 is the evening to go out: the Moon rises close to sunset, around 8 p.m. in most of Tennessee, so look up moonrise for your own town. Flower Moon is the traditional name for May’s full moon in the Old Farmer’s Almanac lists, and May suits it. An older almanac rule gives the Blue Moon label to the third full moon of a season that has four; spring 2027 has four (Mar 22, Apr 20, May 20, Jun 19), which is why the May one counts as the seasonal Blue Moon. Under the newer two-in-a-calendar-month rule, 2027 has none.

• Mercury at its best evening view of the year

  Greatest eastern elongation on May 28; look from about May 12 to June 5, with May 27 and 28 nearly equal · Low in the west-northwest, 45 to 90 minutes after sunset

  Mercury reaches its farthest point east of the Sun, 22.8 degrees, at 9:14 a.m. EDT on May 28, and the evenings around that date offer the best chance. Our own figures for 40 degrees north have Mercury lingering about 97 minutes past sundown in mid-May, brighter than most stars, before June dims it fast. Tennessee lies a few degrees south of that line, so treat the times as a guide. A flat, open western horizon is what you need, and binoculars help.

• Jupiter, Mars and a quarter Moon in the evening

  The first-quarter Moon sits near Jupiter on May 12 and near Mars on May 13 · Southwest to west after dark

  In our calculations Jupiter sets roughly 7 hours after dark on the first of May and just 4.5 hours after dark by June 1, so it quits the evening sky a little sooner each week. Mars sets near 2 a.m. at the start of the month and keeps shrinking and fading. On May 12 the Moon slides to within about 1.2 degrees of Jupiter, though the closest moment comes in daylight, so look after dark. The next night it sits roughly 3 degrees from Mars.

What can Tennessee families do outdoors in May 2027?

Safety notes for May in Tennessee