As the fall bird migration gets underway, bird watchers can track birds in flight across Michigan and the nation as they flock southward each night.
The BirdCast Migration Dashboard, a live migration map provided by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, estimates the number of birds in flight each night, highlighting the largest groups, their paths and other information.
More than 2.7 million birds were in flight over Michigan Monday night, Aug. 25, according to the migration dashboard. Nationally, more than 26 million birds were in flight Aug. 25-26.
The Birdcast system uses radar because most species migrate at night, some at altitudes as high as 15,000 feet, and aren’t visible to the naked eye.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology produces the maps with support from NASA, Edward W. Rose Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Amazon Web Services, the National Science Foundation and Leon Levy Foundation.
Here’s what to know about fall bird migration.
When is fall bird migration season?
In Michigan, fall bird migration is generally takes place between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30, BirdCast says.
Peak migration is defined by the seasonal window during which about 50% of nighttime bird migration traffic passes through an area.
According to the Birdcast historic track, Michigan migration season peaks in late September and early October.
The dashboard notes that numerous species of warblers are most likely to be migrating at this time.
Where are Michigan birds flying to?
During fall migration, various species of birds depart Michigan and fly southward — as far as Central and South America, Cornell University says.
How can you track bird migration south?
Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology hosts a BirdCast Migration Dashboard that provides daily summaries of radar-based nocturnal bird migration. With it, you can watch the progress of birds as they make their way south across the nation and even track how many flew over your county the night before.
How do I know when birds are flying through my area?
BirdCast provides live and local bird migration alerts throughout the continental U.S. by employing real-time analysis of bird migration traffic as detected by radar.
You can use the tool to determine whether birds are migrating in your area in low, medium, or high densities by entering your city in the search field on the website.
How can you help birds migrate?
To aid birds as they migrate, ornithologists urge Americans to turn off nonessential lighting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. during peak migration periods. Bright lights can attract and disorient birds that migrate at night, potentially causing fatal collisions with buildings.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fall bird migration is already underway. How to track Michigan’s migrating birds
Reporting by Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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