BirdCast Migration Monitoring Online
Each spring and fall modern birders benefit from a package of 4 futuristic versions of online equipment with which we can glean information about bird migration night after night across the Lower 48 States. BirdCast provides an exceptional experience to monitor ongoing migrations each night and review migrations for any spring night flight, even alerting you to what species you can expect to see locally day by day. A favorite among the 4 webpages is the real-time migration analysis maps that show intensities of nocturnal bird migration as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network.
The 4 BirdCast migration programs include 1) Live bird migration maps, 2) Bird migration forecast maps, 3) the Migration Dashboard, and 4) Local bird migration alerts, each providing a wealth of insights about present, past, and future migration info. Rather than trying to describe these impressive birding programs, go directly to the sources of each, where they are described in detail and where you can use them firsthand. More important, keep checking in regularly, if not daily or nightly, to find out what to expect as migration begins, grows, expands, and flourishes – locally, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific – from today into June.
Access the 4 BirdCast websites at:
Live bird migration maps – BirdCast
Bird migration forecast maps – BirdCast
Migration Dashboard – BirdCast
Local bird migration alerts – BirdCast
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produces these maps, with support for this research from NASA, the Edward Rose Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Amazon Web Services. The BirdCast project was created by grants from the National Science Foundation and supported by additional grants from the Leon Levy Foundation. Long may these remarkable programs continue to elevate birders’ migration experiences!
