Identifying Important Migratory Landbird Stopover Sites in the Northeast

Dozens of species of landbirds, such as warblers, hummingbirds, and orioles, migrate through the Northeastern United States as they journey between their summer breeding grounds in the U.S. and Canada and their nonbreeding grounds as far south as South America. During the migration period, birds must find habitat where they can stop, rest and replenish their energy reserves. The migration period is one of the most perilous stages in the life cycle for birds, and conservation efforts are increasingly focused on identifying stopover sites that are important for sustaining migratory landbird populations. This project will build upon prior work by the University of Delaware and USGS to use weather surveillance data and field surveys to map and predict such areas.

Specific steps in this project are:

1. Calibrate NEXRAD weather surveillance radar data of bird stopover density by collecting ground survey data of bird identities and densities.
2. Improve NEXRAD-based models of important stopover sites for the Northeast by incorporating two more years of radar data, a more sophisticated modeling method, and better explanatory variables.
3. Validate the updated NEXRAD-based predictive statistical models for the Northeast using ground survey and (as available) NASA radar observations.
4. Assess habitat use of migrants in relation to food abundance, habitat and landscape features in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain.

LCC Staff Contact: Scott Schwenk

The project team provided the LCC with an new interim report at the end of 2014. We caution that results at this stage are still preliminary and subject to change. The report may be viewed here. Field data collection is complete, and bird density calculations are 50% complete. Data processing is 85% complete. A postdoctoral researcher is currently conducting the modeling analysis.

A project update presentation from September 2014 is available as a PDF. The accompanying narrative update is also available.

Buler and Arnold have presented on the project at several meetings and conferences, including the 2014 North American Congress for Conservation Biology and the 2014 Joint Meeting of the Northeast and Southeast Partners in Flight.

Scope of Work - Migratory Landbird Radar Study

Buler Agroecology Lab Website

Journal Articles

Buler, J and Deanna Dawson. 2014. Radar analysis of fall bird migration stopover sites in the northeastern U.S. Ornithological Applications 116: 357-370.

A predecessor project to the 2013-2015 project sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners yielded:

• a report: 2012 Final Report - Radar Analysis of Fall Bird Migration Stopover Sites in the Northeastern U.S.
• a science seminar presentation: Radar Analysis of Fall Migration Stopover Sites in Region 5 (scroll down to view webinar)
• spatial data for this project is also available: Spatial Datasets to Accompany the 2012 Final Report - Radar Analysis of Fall Bird Migration Stopover Sites in the Northeastern U.S.