Track Migratory Birds Online, In Near Real Time

Cornell's BirdCast site gets an upgrade that bird-watchers will love.

Bird watchers may soon experience an entirely new way to enjoy their hobby Cornell Lab of Ornithology has upgraded their BirdCast site, just in time for the spring migration. 

Cornell scientists have launched a new tool that shows the volume and direction of migratory birds. The new migration forecast maps show the travel of birds throughout the country, in near real-time. BirdCast has been around since 2012, but until now has relied on human data input. The new tools rely on NEXRAD, a U.S.-based radar network, to measure flight activity of migratory birds. 

Scientists translate the information into maps showing the number of birds in the air. The maps are updated every six hours. 

"We’ve always wanted to remove the human element from these predictions, with the hope that we could implement an automated system driven by new and historical data. That capacity has just come online, and we’re very excited to unveil it in time for the arrival of spring migrants." Kyle Horton, Research fellow at the Lab of Ornithology

Source: mnn; Check out the live migration maps here.