Collaborative Research: Modeling movement and survival of intercontinental songbird migrants crossing the Gulf of Mexico

在北美东部繁殖的鸣禽中，大约有三分之二会在冬季迁徙到热带地区，这就需要大多数鸣禽穿越墨西哥湾。飞越墨西哥湾被认为是危险的，可能导致大规模死亡。水面上的大气条件，以及鸟类本身的特征（如年龄、身体状况），可能是鸟类迁徙路线和生存的重要预测因素。然而，大多数关于小鸟何时、何地、如何穿越大水域以及它们的生存的知识仍然是推测性的，因为到目前为止，研究人员还无法在水上飞行的起点和终点之间追踪到个体。气候变化引起的大气结构和动力学的预期变化迫切需要了解候鸟如何与大气相互作用。这些知识将有助于了解气候变化对候鸟的潜在影响，其中许多候鸟正在经历数量下降。随着风能开发的加速和沿海栖息地沿迁徙航线的改变，了解动物与大气的关系是及时的。这个跨学科的研究小组将结合现代无线电遥测技术和有利的地理条件来记录鸣禽跨越海湾的迁徙飞行。通过整合野外数据、大气数据以及计算模拟和分析，研究小组将首次估计鸣禽在开阔水域迁徙期间的生存情况。他们还将研究影响鸟类迁徙路线和时间的因素。该团队将通过教育材料（例如谷歌Earth©中的动画迁移轨迹）向非科学家推广对科学，特别是动物迁徙的学习，兴奋和欣赏。该团队将通过演讲、出版物、双语项目网站和大众媒体向科学家、保护区管理人员和公众传播研究结果。美国和拉丁裔本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员将参与研究的每个阶段，以获得学习和技能培养的机会。

Approximately two-thirds of all songbird species that breed in eastern North America migrate to tropical areas for the winter, requiring most species to cross the Gulf of Mexico. Flights across the gulf are considered hazardous and may result in mass mortality. Atmospheric conditions over water, as well as characteristics of the birds themselves (e.g., age, physical condition), are likely important predictors of birds' migratory routes and survival. However, most knowledge about when, where and how small birds cross large water bodies and their survival remains speculative, because until now researchers have been unable to track individuals between the start and end points of over water flights. Anticipated changes in atmospheric structure and dynamics caused by climate change urgently require an understanding of how migrating birds interact with the atmosphere. This knowledge will provide insight to potential consequences of climate change on migratory songbirds, many of which are experiencing population declines. Knowledge of animal-atmosphere relationships is timely as wind energy development accelerates and coastal habitat alteration along migratory flyways continues. The interdisciplinary research team will combine modern radio telemetry and favorable geography to document migratory flights of songbirds across the gulf. By integrating field data, atmospheric data and computational simulations and analyses, the team will provide the first estimate of songbird survival during migration across open water. They also will study factors shaping birds' migratory routes and timing. The team will promote learning, excitement and appreciation for science, and animal migration in particular, to non-scientists through educational materials (e.g., animated migration trajectories in Google Earth©). The team will disseminate findings to scientists, reserve managers and the general public via presentations, publications, a bilingual project website, and popular media. American and Latino undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers will participate in each phase of research to acquire learning and skill-building opportunities.