‘Pokemon Go’ Nest Migration 13: What Spawns Have Changed?

'Pokemon Go' is available for iOS and Android devices. (Niantic)

‘Pokemon Go’ is available for iOS and Android devices. (Niantic)

Another Pokemon Go nest migration has just taken place.

In the augmented-reality game from Niantic Labs, a “nest” is an area in the real world where a high frequency of the same type of Pokemon can consistently be found. It’s different from a habitat; water Pokemon are frequently found near water, but with a nest, you will find, for example, Squirtle spawning in the same place all throughout the day.

Every few weeks, those nests are altered so that they begin spawning different Pokemon, so that Squirtle nest might turn into a Pikachu nest. Sometimes the spawns will just completely disappear, and sometimes new spawns will show up where there were none before.

The nest migrations take place every two weeks, and this is the 13th such occasion. For the most part, the changes are completely random, so not every Squirtle nest will start exporting Pikachu, even if one does; some might start exporting Blastoise, and some might not change at all.

Aside from just going out there and checking for yourself, the only real way of knowing what has happened to your local spawns is to use an online map like The Silph Road. With this service, you can click on a nest and see what players have reported it as. What’s especially helpful is that this website specifies when each report was submitted.

In the screenshot below, for example, you’ll notice that the nest was confirmed as spawning Scyther on February 9th. This was after the 13th nest migration took place, and so we know that this one is up to date. On the other hand, if you come across a nest that hasn’t been updated since before February 9th, the information is likely no longer up to date.

This 'Pokemon Go' nest was reported on February 9th. (The Silph Road)

This ‘Pokemon Go’ nest was reported on February 9th. (The Silph Road)

To give you an idea of what kinds of spawn changes have been happening this time around, here are some of the changes that have been reported by gamers on the Silph Road subreddit:

  • Bulbasaur –> Caterpie
  • Bulbasaur –> Krabby
  • Diglett –> Mankey
  • Diglett –> Voltorb
  • Ekans –> Goldeen
  • Exeggcute –> Doduo
  • Exeggecute –> Diglett
  • Gastly –> Nidoran (Female)
  • Gastly –> Squirtle
  • Growlithe –> Doduo
  • Growlithe –> Electabuzz
  • Growlithe –> Machop
  • Jigglypuff –> Pikachu
  • Jynx –> Diglett
  • Kabuto –> Bulbasaur
  • Machop –> Magmar
  • Magnemite –> Staryu
  • Meowth –> Squirtle
  • Omanyte –> Growlithe
  • Paras –> Kabuto
  • Pinsir –> Doduo
  • Ponyta –> Bulbasaur
  • Ponyta –> Omanyte
  • Psyduck –> Abra
  • Rattata –> Scyther
  • Sandshrew –> Jynx
  • Scyther –> Magmar
  • Spearow –> Meowth

It should be noted that a Valentine’s Day event is currently underway, during which pink Pokemon spawn more frequently, and so if you notice a huge cluster of pink Pokemon in one place, it’s likely because of the holiday event, not because of a new nest.