On August 26th, the rare-bird alert went out. A Roseate Spoonbill, the first on record for Minnesota, was discovered just 30 minutes outside of the Twin Cities—nearly a thousand miles outside the species’ usual range in the Southeast. It followed on the heels of a Wood Stork in New Hampshire and a Great White Heron in Ohio, both thousands of miles away from their Florida homes as well. Between the three of them, the wayfarers racked up enough mileage to fly from the White House to Buckingham Palace. Yup, it was an exciting August—and the excitement isn’t over yet. Spoonbills have popped up in Saint-Martin, Quebec, Sebec, Maine, and as recently as this week, Stratford, Connecticut (perhaps the same individual seen in Maine). The sightings are sensational, but they aren’t exactly random: They represent an ongoing pattern in North American breeding cycles. Wading birds such as Wood Storks, Reddish Egrets, and spoonbills are occurring farther and wider than they have in...