A new tool is helping scientists identify specific bird species from among flocks of migrating birds.BirdFlow combines citizen science observations with weather radar data to help scientists detect specific species and predict their migration routes.Conventional tracking of migrating birds uses weather radar, but this technology can’t distinguish between different species in a flock.The BirdFlow developers say the tool can be helpful for tracking threatened species and improving conservation measures along the birds’ migratory routes.
How can we identify specific bird species as they undertake their annual migrations?
In the U.S., scientists have long relied on weather radar data to track flocks of birds migrating across the country. But that came with a caveat: the birds appeared as blobs on the radar, much like dark clouds. They couldn’t tell what species of birds they were looking at.
A new tool is helping scientists and conservationists bridge this gap.
BirdFlow combines citizen science observations with weather data and artificial intelligence technology to help scientists detect specific species and predict their migration routes. Two studies published in the journals Global Ecology and Biogeography and Movement Ecology describe how BirdFlow can distinguish between species that are migrating across North America. The tool was developed as a collaboration between Cornell University, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
