Regionally-classified radar-observed bird stopover density for 16 WSR-88D sites. See Figure 8 from Buler and Dawson (2012) for more detail.
Using radar to track timing and velocity of bird migration has been around for a long time. But recently, there have been some great advancements –software packages that make it possible to remove “aerial plankton” and quantify actual density of birds. Check out these websites for more information.
Research from University of Delaware
w2birddensity software from University of Delaware
Publications on the methods
- Buler, J. J. and R. H. Diehl. 2009. Quantifying bird density during migratory stopover using weather surveillance radar. IEEE Transcations on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 47:2741-2751. doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2009.2014463
- Buler, J. J., L. A. Randall, J. P. Fleskes, W. C. Barrow, T. Bogart, and D. Kluver. 2012. Mapping wintering waterfowl distributions using weather surveillance radar. PLoS ONE 7(7): e41571. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041571
- Buler, J. J., and D. K. Dawson. 2012. Radar Analysis of Fall Bird Migration Stopover Sites in the Northeastern U.S. Final Report
