Developing regional-scale models of migratory bird movements to improve siting decisions for wind farms and other industrial infrastructure

我们正在使用一组现有的和新的传感器来跟踪整个新不伦瑞克省南半部的候鸟。这些传感器包括小型麦克风（audiomoths），可以用来探测候鸟飞过头顶时的叫声；大型气象雷达，可以提供鸟类在迁徙过程中停在哪里的大范围概况，以及它们飞行的路线和高度；小型海洋雷达，可以提供鸟类如何在较小（2 x 2公里）区域内移动的非常精细的图像；以及自动遥测接收器，可以用非常轻的VHF发射机跟踪鸟类。我们将研究一系列物种的运动模式，从滨鸟到画眉、燕子、莺和海鸭，并将这些运动模式与地理特征（海岸线）、地形特征（丘陵和山谷）和天气联系起来。结果数据将用于统计模型，以提高我们预测鸟类在不同天气条件下（和一年中的时间）飞行的能力，这将用于预测大型工业基础设施（如风力发电场）的好和坏地点。这些数据还将为一系列物种在迁徙过程中如何在景观中移动提供一个新的、前所未有的画面，这将增加我们对鸟类迁徙过程的认识和理解。

We are using an array of existing and new sensors that is designed to track migratory birds throughout the southern half of the province of New Brunswick. The sensors include small microphones (audiomoths) that can be used to detect the calls of migratory birds as they fly overhead, large weather radars, that provide a very broad-scale overview of where birds stop during migration, and the routes and altitudes at which they fly, small marine radars which can provide a very fine-scale picture of how birds move over smaller (2 x 2 km) areas, and automated telemetry receivers that can track birds with very light weight VHF transmitters. We will examine the patterns of movements of a range of species, from shorebirds, to thrushes, swallows, warblers and seaducks, and relate those patterns of movement to geographical features (coastlines), topographical features (hills and valleys) and weather. The resulting data will be used in statistical models to improve our ability to predict where birds fly under various weather conditions (and times of year) which will be used to help predict good and bad places for large industrial infrastructure such as wind farms. The data will also provide a new, unprecedented picture of how a range of species move through the landscape during migration, which will add to our knowledge and understanding of the process of bird migration.