Western NY Nocturnal Bird Migration Study
A Bird Migration Study in the Coastal Plain of Lake Ontario
Monitoring flight calls of night-migrating birds from a school-based transect of stations
Many birds migrate at night to and from their wintering & breeding grounds, and during these nocturnal flights many utter short vocalizations to keep in touch. This study involves a transect of listening stations across Lake Ontario's southern coastal plain that monitors the night sky for such migratory bird calls. Five stations are currently operating from Wilson to Lyndonville, NY. Most are located at schools and offer options for student participation. Automatic call detectors are being evaluated for their accuracy for detecting and identifying the migratory bird calls, and automatic detections of several species are posted each morning to an online call archive.