A shrimp boat about 30 miles off the coast of Brevard caught this video of an overwhelming number of migratory birds flocking around the ship.

* A tool called BirdCast uses radar to generate real-time maps and forecasts of bird migration.

* Climate change may be causing some birds, like the American white pelican, to migrate north earlier than usual.

* Many migrating birds, including the American robin, face high mortality rates during their journey.

If you've been thinking that you've been hearing a lot of chirping lately, you're not mistaken: The snowbirds are arriving.

The feathered kind, that is, not the sunburned ones (they come later).

Every fall, billions of birds leave their summer homes in the North and make their way to the warmer climes of the South, with millions crossing over or stopping in Brevard County.

Radar and crowd sourcing hints at what's flying our way

One neat way to see what birds are on their way here is BirdCast, a website that tracks bird migration.. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded the original BirdCast project in 1999, with public operation beginning in 2000.

Birdcast generates a real-time map that on Oct. 8 showed a record 1.25 billion birds in flight. It includes a Bird Migration Dashboard where you can search by county, to see bird migration forecasts in your area.

Coupled with advanced computing power, ornithologists can use the radar data to generate detailed maps of bird movements in the atmosphere.

How many birds are migrating over Brevard?

On Oct. 23, it estimated more than 784,000 birds crossed Brevard.

According to the site, expected nocturnal migrants over Brevard include: the palm warbler the Eastern phoebe; Northern house wren; Cape May warbler; yellow-rumped warbler; yellow-bellied sapsucker; Swainson's thrush; bay-breasted warbler; and the Savannah sparrow.

Here are some others standouts you're likely to see landing here as the weather cools:

Palm warbler

About 4.5 inches, the palm warbler is a "variable species," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It ranges between Canada and Florida. In spring, they appear very bright yellow underneath with rusty caps. But immature warbles in fall can be very dull-colored.

All palm warblers constantly wag their tails.

White pelicans

One of North America's largest and most striking snowbirds grows about 50 inches long, with a wingspan of 110 inches. They create a big splash among Florida bird watchers eager to scope them out in spots such as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

American white pelicans breed in Canada and migrate to the United States and Mexico during cold months. But studies using weather radar and other means find that white pelicans and other snowbirds migrate back north earlier, by a few days per decade, on average, due to global warming. The long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Northern gannet

You're more likely to see a northern gannet offshore, but sometimes exhausted migratory gannets will rest near shore or on the beach. They have a wide range across the North Atlantic and grow about 31 inches long, with a wingspan of 70 inches and live off of fish and aquatic invertebrates.

Piping plover

Piping plovers grow about seven inches long on a diet of aquatic invertebrates.

The species is protected under the Endangered Species Act, but the status differs based on its breeding location. In the Great Lakes area, they are listed as federally endangered. The Atlantic Coast and Northern Great Plains populations are listed as the less serious status of federally threatened.

The main threats in Florida are coastal development and other human activities.

American robin

They grow about 8 to 11 inches long, with a wingspan of 12 to 16 inches. Robins migrate when freezing temperatures harden the ground making it difficult for them to access earthworms, their main food source, according to the University of Florida.

Robins migrate at about 30 to 36 mph, covering 100 to 200 miles per day. To navigate, they use the angle of the sun in relation to the time of day, UF says, this is why they travel during the day.

Only about 25% of all fledglings survive migration, UF says, and adults can fall victim, too.

American kestrel

American kestrels are known for their high-pitched call, "klee-klee-klee" or "killy-killy-killy," while in flight.

The northern kestrel subspecies occurs throughout most of North America but is only found in Florida September through March.

The Southeastern American Kestrel is most often confused with the slightly larger migratory subspecies of American Kestrel.

The Southeastern American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in America, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It is slightly larger than a Florida Scrub-Jay and slightly smaller than a Mourning Dove.

Where's good to go birding in Brevard?

* Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/merritt-island

* Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera: https://www.brevardfl.gov/UtilityServices/RitchGrissomMemorialWetlands

* Canaveral National Seashore: https://www.nps.gov/cana/index.htm

Contact Waymer at (321) 261-5903 or at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @JWayEnviro.