See New York’s largest birds at spectacular Montezuma migrations
story by Derek Doeffinger
photos by Derek Doeffinger and Herb Chong
March at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is like an old-style Black Friday at Walmart. It’s the opening of the doors for an aerial stampede of migrating birds. For the next two months, dozens of different types of marsh-loving birds will ply the skies overhead and then drift downward to their chosen spots. Most are there to refuel and recover. They may stay for a few hours, a few days or a few weeks. Some may even spend the summer to raise families.
What I really love about Montezuma’s spring birds is that so many of them are big and beautiful. The fact that I greatly prefer the big birds (they’re much easier to see and find) makes it clear I’m not really a birder, not one of those people who will enthusiastically drive a couple hundred miles in the dark to add a twisted beak rusty finch (I made that name up) to his life list.
However, I will happily drive an hour to the place where you can see more big birds than any other place in the Finger Lakes: eagles, great blue herons, great egrets, Canada geese, sandhill cranes, snow geese, all three swans (mute, tundra and trumpeter), ospreys, an assortment of raptors, turkey vultures, cormorants, mergansers, white pelicans and gulls, several species of ducks and more. They all visit Montezuma in the spring (and fall), and the migration months maximize your opportunities as tens and hundreds of thousands of birds pass through.
Reacting to surging hormones, many erupt in frisky behaviors. From the deck at the Visitor’s Center you can see the courtship display of sandhill cranes. Like dancers at a chorus line casting call, they leap high and kick their 4-foot-long skinny legs to show their superiority, impress females and intimidate rivals.
The odd thing about the refuge is revealed almost as soon as you arrive: The New York State Thruway runs right through the middle of it. You see this as soon as you step up onto the deck of the Visitor’s Center.
In this vast and tranquil expanse, this seems wildly inappropriate. But it also gives you pause. One’s a migratory route thousands of years old, the other a transcontinental highway built here only 71 years ago.
Even after dozens of visits, I still find the juxtaposition intellectually disturbing and am not sure what to make of it. The birds don’t seem to care one way or the other.
Finding the birds
The problem you may encounter with finding Montezuma’s migrating birds is that, like spring breakers, the birds may not linger too long in one spot. They may not be able to resist the free ride home offered by a strong southerly breeze or a rumor of better food on the other side of the refuge.
The refuge helps you find birds by providing viewing decks, lookout towers and overlooks at the places they congregate. The fact that birds show up year after year can be attributed to a team of dedicated scientists and volunteers who have spent decades controlling water levels and cultivating plants to provide a habitat fit for water-loving birds.
Keeping in mind that most Montezuma birds are active early morning and late afternoon, here are the best locations and a summary of the birds you can typically expect to find during March, April and May. This is primarily a “drive about” tour to spot the birds. If birds seem sparse, hang around at each location for 15 to 30 minutes, and, perhaps, make two loops to improve your odds.
Visitor’s Center and Wildlife Drive
Off Rt. 5/20, the Visitor’s Center and the Wildlife Drive are great viewing spots. Although neither of them opens until April 1, the large observation deck adjoining the Visitor’s Center is accessible in early March to view the birds feeding on the pond – if it isn’t iced over. From the deck at the Visitor’s Center, I’ve often found sandhill cranes arriving between 8 and 9 a.m.
You can hear the chattering cranes approach from half a mile away. Their descent is a delight to observe. Arriving in groups of four to a dozen or more, they constantly adjust their personal spacing and then gradually extend and rotate their wings downward to form mini parachutes that slow their speed. As the ground nears, they bring their rearward stretched legs down into a vertical landing or slightly forward position.
Flocks of green-winged teals regularly show up and dazzle with their chaotic and flashing chromatic flight formations as they veer and swerve into sun-splashed landings.
Once it opens on April 1, the one way, 3-mile-long drive becomes a focal point for its great variety of birds and interactions. Eagles often hunt here, especially when their young are growing from April to July.
Activity occurs on both sides of the road, but the left side with its great expanse of marsh tends to be most reliable (ponds and Seneca Canal are on the right side). A roadside stretch of water on the left often features great blue herons and great egrets. You’re required to stay in your car, but this is actually an advantage as the car makes a great blind that many birds ignore. Drive slowly, occasionally pause for a few minutes and peer into the dense foliage. Just after you take the first curve, look right into the tree line bordering the thruway to spot what is usually an active eagle’s nest.
When you come to the end of the 3-mile drive, turn right onto Rt. 89 and you’ll quickly come to Tschache Tower and then May’s Point.
Tschache Tower
The top of the three-story tower provides a panoramic view of a great blue heron rookery 1/3 mile to the southwest. You can also see it (not as well) from the ground. This is as close as you can get as its surrounded by swamps. Herons often fly right past the tower.
May’s Point
Leaving Tschache Tower, turn left (north) and take the first right in half a mile to May’s Point. The parking area looks over a pond often visited by eagles, great blue herons and egrets. They’re also visible from the observation deck across the road, as is a variety of waterfowl and shore birds.
And north to the Montezuma Wetlands Complex
If you’re a Finger Lakes car wanderer, you likely realize that the wetlands habitat of Montezuma extends well beyond the borders of the national refuge. Those lands – some state, some federal and some private – fall under an organizational umbrella named the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. The different groups are coordinating their efforts to turn the entire 50,000-acre complex (including the national wildlife refuge’s nearly 10,000 acres) into a great habitat for marsh-loving creatures.
By taking Rt. 89 north, you’ll reach three significant areas in the complex that provide good bird sighting opportunities: Knox Marcellus Marsh on East Road, snow geese on Rt. 31 and sandhill cranes and waterfowl on VanDyne Spoor Road.
Knox Marcellus Marsh
Just after Rt. 89 crosses over the canal, turn right onto May’s Point Road and then left onto East Road. In a half mile, the East Road Overlook stands above and about 200 yards away from the marsh where hundreds (sometimes thousands) of geese and ducks, and a few swans gather.
Rt. 31 snow geese
Continue north on East Road and then turn right onto Rt. 89 and you’ll end up at the Rt. 31 mucklands; tens of thousands of snow geese often show up late February or early March (most are gone by the end of March). Not there? They also form large floating rafts on the north end of Cayuga Lake and feed in nearby cornfields.
Sandhill Crane Unit
On VanDyne Spoor Road, just outside of the village of Savannah (from May’s Point go 6 miles north on Rt. 89, right onto Seneca Street for half a mile and right onto VanDyne Spoor Road for 1-1/2 miles). This large marsh splashes to life with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of sandhill cranes and thousands of ducks. The road is seasonal, often muddy and typically plagued with shallow but passable potholes.
Choosing the month to visit
For the most part, you’ll be looking for migrating birds. They, of course, don’t keep to a precise travel schedule. From year to year, the different species such as shovel-nosed ducks, sandhill cranes and ospreys tend to arrive in a certain month but not a certain week. Most snow and Canada geese (some are year around residents) and many duck species arrive early to mid-March, as do migrating bald eagles (several are year-round residents). Most ospreys arrive by early April, often returning to nests used the previous year.
Shorebirds, warblers and smaller birds tend to arrive from late April to May.
In early March, you have to worry if enough ice has melted. Waiting until early April may be the smartest decision, but I would suggest coming both in early March and the second week of April.
March
Remember the Wildlife Drive starting at the Visitor’s Center doesn’t open until April 1. Other viewing areas are open.
However, the deck at the Visitor’s Center is open. In March, if the ice has melted, the pool beside the deck comes alive with ducks, geese and sandhill cranes. After the Visitor’s Center, head to May’s Point to look for eagles, Canada geese, great blue herons, assorted ducks and shore birds.
Often early arrivals, snow geese arrive along Rt. 31, just east of the Rt. 31 and Rt. 89 intersection or in the shallows of northern Cayuga Lake. The Knox Marcellus Marsh off East Road and the Sandhill Crane Unit off Vandyne Spoor Road also make good stops.
April
This may be the most reliable month to see birds: the Wildlife Drive opens April 1 and migrating birds are still arriving or hanging around. Eaglets hatch the second or third week, increasing parental hunting (thus visibility); great blue herons, repairing and staking nest claims at the rookery, are visible from Tschache Tower. They feed at May’s Point and in the main pool along Wildlife Drive. Canada Geese incubate their soon-to-hatch eggs.
Last year’s mid-April bird survey by Jackie Bakker revealed more than 35 species, including canvasbacks, teals, coots, shovelers, cormorants, eagles, ospreys, herons and egrets. You might get lucky and see something like this:
April 16, 2025 survey, Jackie Bakker
Yesterday, we were driving on the Wildlife Drive just past Seneca Flats, when I saw an amazing encounter. An immature bald eagle was harassing an osprey with a fish making quite a commotion. There was an adult bald eagle perched in a tree on the east side of the Seneca-Cayuga Canal. All of a sudden, the adult seemed to shoot out of the tree like a rocket and flew towards the osprey. The osprey had been evading the immature pretty well, but apparently felt intimidated by the oncoming adult. It dropped the fish and the adult bald eagle caught it mid-air!
May
Chris Lajewski of Audubon’s Montezuma Center, singles out May and June for the arrival of shorebirds and other small birds, especially songbirds such as warblers and vireos. His favorite moment may be when “American woodcock males perform a remarkable ‘sky dance’ on spring and summer nights, in a high, twisting flight, with chippering, twittering, bubbling sounds.” These flights typically start in early spring and last into May.
Lajewski strongly suggests hitting the trails. “There are 30 miles of hiking trails across the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, most of them are on the Northern Montezuma Wildlife Management Area dec.ny.gov/places/northern-montezuma-wildlife-management-area. The Audubon Center leads public programs and birding tours to connect people to Montezuma’s birds and our programs can be found at audubon.org/montezuma.”
The comings and goings of migratory birds can be fickle so be patient and be persistent. It will pay off.
What Birds are There Now?
It can be frustrating to drive to the refuge and not find many birds. A few resources can help you determine if birds will be there when you visit.
Cornell’s eBird website, ebird.org/region/USFWS_268 can show what birds were recently at the refuge. To see a map with locations of birds spotted, click on the “Hotspots Map” in the left-side menu. They also offer an app version.
Chris Lajewski, director of the Montezuma Audubon Center, suggests calling or emailing them to learn what birds are currently in the wetlands. You can reach the Center at 315-365-3588 or email montezuma@audubon.org.
I like the comprehensive bird survey (weekly bird sightings by location) provided by Jackie Bakker. She has been doing the official survey for more than 15 years. It can be a few days old but it’s thorough. She sometimes doesn’t start it until later in March; go to friendsofmontezuma.org (Bakker is its president) and type “bird survey” in the search window.
You can also call the Refuge’s Visitor’s Center at 315-568-5987. At the Visitor’s Center, you can see a list of recent sightings posted both inside the center, and inside the front entrance sun room that is usually open during migration season even when the interior center isn’t.
