Alabama

Catch this stunning rare bird in Alabama before it’s gone for the summer

Published

10 months ago

May 11, 2025

Catch this stunning rare bird in Alabama before it’s gone for the summer

They’re blue, round, and small. And birdwatchers throughout Alabama are hoping to catch sight of one before they head north for the summer.

The cerulean warbler is one of many bird species that migrate through Alabama in the spring and fall. But the brilliant blue birds are hard to spot when they’re here, and they’re becoming even more rare.

“It’s a really charismatic species,” said Thomas Thompson, a graduate student at Alabama A&M University who studies the Cerulean Warbler. “I think it captivates a lot of people, when they hear about it. And if you’re actually fortunate enough to hear one or see one, it’s a pretty awesome experience.”

Alabama is a stop-off point for cerulean warblers during migration. Their spring migration — mid-March to mid-May — is almost over but they’ll be back again in the fall.

Some cerulean warblers will breed in Alabama, in the northern third of the state, but their breeding grounds are becoming fewer and fewer.

You might see them on Chapman Mountain, said Lianne Koczur, science and conservation director with Alabama Audubon, the local chapter of the larger bird conservation society.

Cerulean warblers are around just 4.5 inches long. The males are bright blue with a black necklace, and white throats and bellies. Females are a paler bluish green with hints of yellow on their bellies.

Why are they so hard to spot? In addition to the decline in their population, they are a high canopy bird, meaning they hang out in the tops of trees, Koczur said, so they’re hard to see from the ground. The warblers also like to be in the interior of the forest, in mature trees, Thompson said.

“That’s another reason that they’re kind of poorly understudied is that they’re a cryptic species,” Thompson said. “They’re hard to see, they’re hard to find. More often than not you just hear them and you’re lucky if you get to see one because they’re tiny little birds.”

The warblers begin migrating north in mid-March and are largely past Alabama by mid-May. From there, they settle and breed as far west as Minnesota all the way to the east coast, but primarily in the Appalachian states, according to the Audubon Society’s migration tracker.

Their migration south for the winter begins as early as mid-July, becoming more prevalent in Alabama by September, according to the Audubon Society. From there the birds will settle in South America for the winter, in the Andes Mountains in Peru and up through Venezuela.

Since the 1980s, the warbler’s population has decreased by nearly 70%, according to the Audubon Society. From 1966 to 2005, the bird’s population decreased by an average of 3% every losses year. That’s one of the most dramatic declines of any bird species in recent memory, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It’s one of the fastest declining songbirds in North America, Thompson said.

“It’s kind of sad, because a lot of the birds that I hear singing there, I know they’re singing and there’s no female there to answer the call,” Thompson said. “It’s like taking a glimpse into kind of a disappearing population.”

Cerulean warblers breed in mature deciduous (meaning the trees lose their leaves) forests. This habitat has been lost over the decades, causing the bird’s population to decline. Their winter habitat in the Andes is also in danger of disappearing due to development, the fish and wildlife service said. Cerulean warblers are on the service’s Birds of Conservation list, meaning the bird is one of its highest priorities for conservation.

Because the warblers are so picky about their habitat, that makes them even more susceptible to habitat loss, Thompson said. Some birds can live anywhere, but cerulean warblers require those tall, mature deciduous trees, much of which has been lost. Even within the forest, the warblers like to breed in places where there’s a gap in the tree canopy, because it amplifies their song.

There used to be more locations where the bird could breed in the state. But today there’s just three known breeding populations in Alabama, Thompson said, though he acknowledged there could be populations on private land unknown to researchers. Those breeding populations are in the Sipsey Wilderness Area in the Bankhead National Forest, on Larkin Fork and in the Walls of Jericho tract in Jackson County.

“They used to be considered common. So there was sightings of them all around Birmingham and in multiple counties throughout Alabama,” Thompson said. “There was known breeding populations, and now there’s really only two known breeding populations left.”

There are several other warbler species that breed in Alabama, including Kentucky warblers, hooded warblers and Swainson’s warblers, Koczur said. All of these birds breed here in Alabama but migrate south to Central and South America for the winter.

This story is the first in Beautiful Birds of Alabama, a new series from AL.com featuring some of the state’s most unique birds.

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Alabama

How to watch Tennessee Volunteers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | Feb. 28

Published

7 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

How to watch Tennessee Volunteers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | Feb. 28

Labaron Philon’s No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide (21-7, 11-4 SEC) hit the road to match up with Ja’Kobi Gillespie and the No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers (20-8, 10-5 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28. The game starts at 6 p.m. ET.

We have more details below, including how to watch this matchup on ESPN.

Prepare for this matchup with everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s college hoops action.

Tennessee vs. Alabama: How to watch on TV or live stream

Game day: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Game time: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena
TV Channel: ESPN
Live stream: Fubo – Watch NOW (Regional restrictions may apply)

Check out: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Watch college basketball on Fubo!

Tennessee vs. Alabama stats and trends

Tennessee ranks 78th in the nation with 80.5 points per game so far this year. At the other end, it ranks 62nd with 69.1 points allowed per contest.
The Volunteers are thriving when it comes to rebounding, as they rank third-best in college basketball in boards (39.9 per game) and second-best in rebounds allowed (25.9 per contest).
So far this season, Tennessee ranks 30th in college basketball in assists, averaging 17.1 per game.
With 11.8 turnovers per game, the Volunteers are 257th in the country. They force 10.7 turnovers per contest, which ranks 224th in college basketball.
This season, Tennessee is making 6.9 threes per game (271st-ranked in college basketball) and is shooting 34.7% (139th-ranked) from three-point land.
With a 30.2% three-point percentage allowed this season, the Volunteers are 22nd-best in the country. They rank 182nd in college basketball by giving up 7.8 three-pointers per contest.
Tennessee has taken 67.3% two-pointers and 32.7% three-pointers this year. Of the team’s buckets, 75.8% are two-pointers and 24.2% are three-pointers.

Tennessee vs. Alabama Odds and Spread

Spread Favorite: Volunteers (-4.5)
Moneyline: Tennessee (-222), Alabama (+179)
Total: 164.5 points

NCAA Basketball odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 4:11 a.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

Watch college basketball on Fubo!

Follow the latest college sports coverage at College Sports Wire.

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Alabama

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

Published

19 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Losing to a rival almost always hurts more than falling to another opponent during the regular season. Years of hatred, unforgettable moments and tradition boiled up into one game, and the delivery is nowhere to be found for one team.

No. 17 Alabama has won seven straight games and is eyeing an eighth on Saturday on the road against No. 22 Tennessee. This is the second time that Crimson Tide will face the Volunteers, as Alabama lost in Tuscaloosa in January.

The loss a month ago to head coach Rick Barnes and company brought UA’s losing streak against Tennessee to five games. It’s the first time that the Tide has dropped this many games to the Vols since 1968-72 — a streak that came two years before Alabama head coach Nate Oats was born (Oct. 13, 1974). It’s why Oats is not treating Tennessee as a faceless opponent or like any other team the Tide has faced.

“Every year we’ve been here they’ve caused us issues,” Oats said during Friday’s press conference. “Our players, are fully aware that we’ve lost five in a row. They’re fully aware of what happened out there last year. I’ve taken ownership for my share of what happened up there last year.

“We’re fully aware that they beat us at home. We haven’t lost very many home games in conference, period, really since we’ve been here, and they handed us one this year.”

After falling to Florida on Feb. 1, Alabama moved down to the ninth spot in the conference standings, and the college basketball world started to question whether or not the Crimson Tide would be a threat in the postseason.

But a switch flipped after that loss, and the current winning streak has Alabama tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings. Everything seems to be trending in the Tide’s direction, as there are only three games remaining on the schedule.

Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama’s head coach. Following the retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during the offseason, Oats became the second-longest tenured coach for one team in the conference. The coach in front of him: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who has held his position since the 2015-16 season.

Both Alabama and Tennessee have finished conference play in the top-4 of the standings since the 2022-23 season. The Crimson Tide was the regular-season and SEC Tournament champions in both the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, while the Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament and were the conference’s regular-season champions in 2023-24.

“So our guys know, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of respect for how they play and what they do. We’ve got to come in with a healthy amount of respect for them, but we got to try to win this game.

“There’s a lot riding on this game. What happens in Arkansas-Florida, you’re either going to be all alone in second place if we could get a win, or you’re going to be one game out first. If you take a loss, now you’re in danger of losing a top-4 seed. They’ll be tied with us if we take a loss.”

“So there’s a lot riding on the SEC standings in this game here. They know that. They know what our struggles against Tennessee have Been as well.”

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Alabama

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

SELMONT, Ala. (WSFA) – An unincorporated community in Dallas County is seeking to establish itself as an independent city, hoping to gain control over local government services and community priorities that have long been managed at the county level.

Selmont, located across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, is home to approximately 2,700 registered voters and carries a significant place in civil rights history.

The community was the site of a pivotal moment during the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, when roughly 600 civil rights marchers were tear-gassed by Alabama state troopers, including 13-year-old Mae Richmond.

“People ask us ‘Were we afraid?’ No. We were not afraid. We were not afraid, first of all, even as a 13-year-old child, we knew that we were doing what God was permitting us to do,” Richmond, a 60-plus year resident of Selmont, said of the historic event.

As an unincorporated community, Selmont lacks its own municipal government. Residents must contact the Dallas County Commissioner for public works services. It’s a situation that community leaders say limits responsiveness to local needs.

Erice Williams, a community activist leading the incorporation effort, said the change would fundamentally alter how the community operates.

“It would give us decision power and allow us to get funding that we can allocate to our own community that we can make our own priorities be clear and resolved at the same time,” Williams said.

Williams also highlighted the strain on current county services. “Connel Towns (county commissioner) is the only person we have to call, and the resources and time that he would have to serve our community is very limited,” he said.

Operation Selmont, the group spearheading the incorporation effort, is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to the local probate judge. The organization needs approximately 500 signatures to move forward with the incorporation process and has already collected 40 percent of its goal.

The next meeting for Operation Selmont is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m.

For longtime residents like Richmond, incorporation represents an opportunity to ensure Selmont’s future and maintain its identity for generations to come.

“That we will be able to teach and train our children to give them the strength that our foreparents had that they will be able to stand up for justice and for equality,” Richmond said of her hopes for the community’s future.

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