Migration over Pennsylvania has been light the past several nights and is expected to be light the next several nights as well, according to BirdCast.
A project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Colorado State University, BirdCast applies weather surveillance radar to gather information on the numbers, flight directions, speeds and altitudes of birds aloft.
On national maps, BirdCast migration forecasts show predicted nocturnal migration 3 hours after local sunset and are updated every 6 hours.
The forecasts come from models trained on the last 23 years of bird movements in the atmosphere as detected by the US NEXRAD weather surveillance radar network. The models use the Global Forecasting System to predict suitable conditions for migration occurring 3 hours after local sunset.
For real-time migration maps, visit the BirdCast website.
The project also generates BirdCast Alerts, which allow anyone to determine whether birds are migrating in a specific area that night through an interactive website.
According to the organizers, in addition to providing curious birders with information on local migration and where and when to go birding, the alerts serve an important conservation need. They can provide timely information about the few nights of high intensity migration, otherwise referred to as peak migration. That allows effective targeting of the most important migration nights in a season, helping determine when to act for maximum effect of conservation actions such as turning off lights when birds are flying at night to avoid luring them towards artificial light and potentially fatal hazards.
According to the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, “At night, artificial lights can confuse birds and cause them to become disoriented or fly into buildings. To protect these migrating birds, turn off as many of your outdoor lights as possible from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. both evenings. This small action can have a big impact on the safety of our migratory species.”
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology projects that the peak springtime migration over Pennsylvania occurs in early May.
Combining more than 20 years of data from weather radar, acoustics and citizen scientist reports to systems like eBird, the Lab developed models that 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.
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.
Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.
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March 25, 2021 at 04:06PM
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Where to get a heads-up on prime nights for bird migration across Pennsylvania - pennlive.com
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