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©
© Baptiste Schmid

BirdScan MR1 monitoring birds, bats and insects in Texas, USA.

©
© Raphaël Nussbaumer

Bird flows on September 28 2018. See www.birdmigrationmap.vogelwarte.ch for animated maps

©
© Baptiste Schmid

Looking for bats in the radar signal, near the bracken cave, Texas, USA.

©
© SOI Archive

Monitoring bird migration within the Alps, Maloja, CH.

©
© Baptiste Schmid

Monitoring bird migration at the Col de Bretolet, CH

Back to the overview
©
© Baptiste Schmid
©
© Raphaël Nussbaumer
©
© Baptiste Schmid
©
© SOI Archive
©
© Baptiste Schmid

BirdScan MR1 monitoring birds, bats and insects in Texas, USA.

Bird flows on September 28 2018. See www.birdmigrationmap.vogelwarte.ch for animated maps

Looking for bats in the radar signal, near the bracken cave, Texas, USA.

Monitoring bird migration within the Alps, Maloja, CH.

Monitoring bird migration at the Col de Bretolet, CH

Projects
Large-scale monitoring of animal movements aloft

Investigating the spatio-temporal patterns of aerial animal movements using radar

Did you know that myriads of birds, bats, and insects are flying to migrate, disperse, forage, or reproduce, day and night? For instance, two thirds of migratory birds fly at night! Radar can reveal what mostly remains visually unseen. We monitor the movements of flying animals and relate them to environmental factors, in order to predict their distributions and assess their vulnerability to anthropogenic infrastructures (e.g. wind energy) and activities (e.g. aviation).

Domain Research
Unit Bird Migration
Topic Birds and Human Beings, Ecology, Migratory Birds
Habitat alpine habitats, farmland, forest, meadows and pastures, rivers & streams, rocky terrain, semi-open farmland, settlements, wasteland, wetlands
Project start 1993
Project status ongoing
Project management Baptiste Schmid
Project region Africa, America, Asia, Europe

Details

Project objectives

Our radar studies aim at:

  • Continuous and automatic monitoring of migration by radar
  • Investigating environmental influences on the temporal and spatial distributions of migratory flows, primarily birds
  • Examining the environmental influence on individual flight behaviour
  • Forecasting the temporal and spatial distributions of migratory birds, aloft and on the ground

Methodology

We use a combination of small-scale radar and large-scale weather radar to map the spatio-temporal distribution of migratory flows. Read more on radar technology here. To complement the lack of information on species identity of radar data, we work on workflows to integrate radar data with other source of information, such as nocturnal flight calls and ground observations from citizen.

Significance

Monitoring migratory flows with radar allows us to investigate the environmental impacts from local to continental scales. It provides insights on how birds achieve their remarkable performance during migration. It also supports conservation actions by giving cues on how to mitigate effects of anthropogenic environmental changes on migratory flow.

Results

With radar monitoring, we have gained insights in:

  • Influence of topographical structures (mountain ranges, sea, desert) on migratory behaviour
  • Elevational distributions of migrants in relation to atmospheric conditions (wind, etc.)
  • Flight speed, air speed and wingbeat patterns of wild birds
  • Composition of nocturnal bird migration (passerines, waterfowl)
  • Potential hazard for migratory birds by wind turbines and other tall buildings

Further information

We used national networks of weather radar to interactively map the spatio-temporal distributions of migratory birds. Enjoy exploring the maps! Newest data can be visualised on the website aloftdata.eu

Project partner(s)

Financial support

Publications

Employees

Avatar Baptiste Schmid
Bird Migration employee
Baptiste Schmid
+41 41 462 97 72
baptiste.schmid@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar Janine Aschwanden
Bird Migration employee
Janine Aschwanden
+41 41 462 97 81
janine.aschwanden@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar Birgen Haest
Bird Migration employee
Birgen Haest
+41 41 462 99 43
birgen.haest@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar Barbara Helm
Head of Bird Migration
Barbara Helm
+41 41 462 97 82
barbara.helm@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar William Leo Stephen Hawkes
Bird Migration employee
William Leo Stephen Hawkes
+41 41 462 97 00
william.hawkes@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar Raphaël Nussbaumer
Bird Migration employee
Raphaël Nussbaumer
+41 41 462 97 00
raphael.nussbaumer@vogelwarte.ch
Avatar Dieter Peter
Infrastructure employee
Dieter Peter
+41 41 462 97 46
dieter.peter@vogelwarte.ch
Other resources
TV report
On studying bird migration (in French)
www.rts.ch
Bird Migration link
Unit

Bird Migration

We research migratory birds from their breeding grounds to Africa and lay the foundations for their protection beyond national borders.

Learn more

Additional projects

Chocolate with wings: Supporting bird-friendly cocoa production
Towards cocoa farming that benefits birds and communities
Rest, Refuel, Restart: Stopover Ecology of Migrating Birds in Africa (R3-Migration)
Importance of African Stopover Sites for Migratory Birds After Crossing the Sahara
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