U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2005–3048

May 2005

Using Radar to Advance Migratory Bird Management: 

An Interagency Collaboration

Printed on recycled paper

The Need

Migratory birds face many changes to 

the landscapes they traverse and the habitats 

they use. Wind turbines and communications towers, which pose hazards to birds 

and bats in flight, are being erected across 

the United States and offshore. Human 

activities can also destroy or threaten 

habitats critical to birds during migratory 

passage, and climate change appears to be 

altering migratory patterns. The U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other 

agencies are under increasing pressure to 

identify and evaluate movement patterns 

and habitats used during migration and 

other times.

Few tools exist to decipher migratory 

travels, but radar-based studies of movements and habitat use patterns in songbirds, waterfowl, and bats hold promise. 

The United States system of more than 

150 Doppler weather radars provides 

continental coverage, similar to the scale 

of bird migration. Although data stored 

from weather radar represent perhaps the 

second largest biological data archive in 

the world, use of those data is currently 

limited to technically savvy biologists 

who can handle the obscure data formats.

In addition, complementary mobile radar 

units and thermal and acoustic monitoring can be used in site-specific studies. 

Efforts to advance bird conservation and 

management through the use of radar arose 

independently in several recent collaborations between U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) and USFWS. This coalition of 

scientists and managers recently identified 

the need to work together more closely to 

foster radar-related research and software 

development.

The Approach

U.S. Geological Survey scientists at 

the Fort Collins Science Center, National 

Wetlands Research Center, Northern 

Rocky Mountain Science Center, and 

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, as 

well as USFWS Migratory Bird Program 

biologists across the country, are collaborating and joining with university partners 

to develop a suite of products for resource 

managers. The goals are to identify migratory path-ways and stopover sites for 

conservation, mitigation, and ecological 

planning; convey the importance of functional landscapes and unobstructed airspaces 

for migrating wildlife; enable use of radar 

by the wider biological, wind power, and

related communities; and simplify the 

analysis of radar data. The long-term focus 

Radar-captured snapshot of spring bird migration across eastern and central United States

is to better understand movement patterns 

and habitat associations of migratory birds 

and other wildlife. Land managers and 

industry can use the knowledge and tools 

developed for migratory bird habitat projects

and for optimizing the siting of energy 

projects and other facilities.

The complementary endeavors, not all 

of which are funded, concentrate on four 

fundamentals. One is developing software, 

in collaboration with National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

scientists, that enables biologists to access 

unfiltered weather data and integrate it into 

geographic information systems. A second 

is developing artificial intelligence-based 

filters that separate bird from nonbird radar 

echoes, with these techniques then being 

used to map migration patterns. The third 

is determining characteristics of bird 

migration in terms of altitude, speed and 

direction, daily movements, seasonality, 

and associations with habitats and landforms.

The fourth is examining specific movement 

patterns in relation to towers, wind generation facilities, and tall obstructions.

There are many technical issues that 

make this work difficult, including complex

data structures, massive data sets, digital recognition of birds, large areas not 

covered by weather radar, and model 

validation; however, progress will only 

be furthered by tackling the challenge. 

The new coalition will meet its goals by 

(1) facilitating a productive collaboration 

with NOAA, all Department of the Interior 

bureaus, state wildlife agencies, universities, power companies, and other partners; 

(2) building and strengthening the needed 

scientific capabilities within USGS; 

(3) addressing key migratory bird management issues; and (4) ensuring full funding 

for the collaborative effort.

Suggested citation:

Sojda, R.S., Ruth, J.M., Barrow, W.C., Dawson, D.K.,

Diehl, R.H., Manville, A., Green, M.T., Krueper, D.J., 

and Johnston, S., 2005, Using radar to advance migratory bird management: an interagency collaboration: 

U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 

Fact Sheet 2005-3048, 2 p.