The peak of the spring bird migration is sweeping north across Pennsylvania right now, according to AeroEcology Lab at Colorado State University.
The lab combined more than 20 years of data from weather radar, acoustics and citizen scientist reports to systems like eBird by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to develop forecasting ability for the timing of peak migration.
The models the lab developed show the average peak migration date on May 3 in Virginia and West Virginia, on May 6 along a line stretching diagonally across Pennsylvania from Erie in the northwest to Philadelphia in the southeast, and on May 9 in upstate New York.
With huge numbers of birds migrating at night, the lab also developed Lights Out Alerts to encourage urban areas to reduce exterior lighting and the impact on nighttime lights on the birds passing overhead.
Tonight is a critical night for lights out, according to the lab’s data, with 2 million birds estimated to be flying over Pennsylvania.
The American Bird Conservancy estimates that television, radio and cell towers cause as many as 7 million bird collisions each year in North America.
About 350 species of birds breed in North America and winter in Central and South America and the Caribbean, migrating north in the spring and south in the fall.
They migrate at speeds ranging from 15-55 miles per hour, varying by species, prevailing winds and air temperature, and cover 15-600 miles each day.
The birds also are migrating earlier in response to climate change. Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the University of Massachusetts found that spring migrants were likely to pass certain stops earlier now than they did 20 years ago. Temperature and migration timing were closely aligned, with the greatest changes in migration timing occurring in regions warming most rapidly.
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Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
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Peak of bird migration sweeping across Pennsylvania - pennlive.com
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