Science Seminar: Important Stopover Sites for Migratory Landbirds

Every fall, dozens of species of landbirds migrate from their summer breeding grounds in the United States and Canada to wintering grounds as far away as South America. The migration period is one of the most perilous stages in the life cycle for birds, and the widespread loss of stopover habitat where they can rest and replenish their energy reserves is believed to be a contributing factor in the decline in populations for a number of migratory bird species.

The first step to protecting important stopover sites is to figure out where they are located. With support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners, researchers from the University of Delaware used innovative analyses of weather data coupled with field surveys to predict potentially important stopover sites for migratory landbirds in the Northeast region. The results are described in the new Northeast Migratory Landbird Stopover Report.

Please join us on Thursday, April 5th, for a Science Seminar about this research led by Dr. Jeff Buler from the University of Delaware. 

Title: Important Stopover Sites for Migratory Landbirds

Date and time: Thursday, April 5th, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m

Location: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Regional Office, and online (see Event details below)

Description: Dr. Jeff Buler and colleagues at the University of Delaware have filled a key gap in our understanding of stopover habitat for migratory landbirds by providing large-scale perspective on important sites for migrants across multiple states in the Eastern United States. Using an analysis of NEXRAD weather radar data from the Northeastern U.S. (for the years 2008-2014), and field data from two fall seasons at 48 sites in the Delmarva peninsula and mainland Virginia, they developed models to predict the importance of sites for migrants across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S.

Their research also provides additional insights on factors influencing the density of migrating birds occurring at a given location, which suggest some management activities that could help improve the quality of stopover habitat for landbirds. The radar data analyses also yielded some cautionary results about the potential impacts of light pollution to migrating birds and trends in overall abundance of migratory landbirds. The full report on this project, maps, and data depicting predicted bird density during fall migration are now available through the North Atlantic LCC Conservation Planning Atlas. 

Event details: The presentation will be broadcast in the large auditorium of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Regional Office, or online via WebEx.

Follow this link to view the presentation on Web Ex.

Join the teleconference by dialing: 1-866-762-5634

Attendee passcode: 69 87 529