Mighty Migrations:
Reading the Night Sky: Ecological Forecasting for Bird Conservation
Every spring and fall, billions of birds take to the skies, navigating by stars, magnetic fields, and instincts honed over millions of years. But our nights are getting brighter, pulling birds off course, towards cities, and away from the habitats they need.
What if we could predict when and where migration is most intense and use that knowledge to turn off the lights at exactly the right moment? Ecological forecasting is making that possible. Drawing on radar data, weather models, and machine learning, researchers can now generate real-time forecasts that let us anticipate the pulse of bird movement before it happens. These tools are becoming a powerful lever for advocacy, helping cities, building managers, and utilities make smarter decisions about artificial light at night. In this talk, Dr. Horton will explore how migration forecasting works, what the data tells us about the cost of light pollution, and how you as birders and conservation advocates can use these insights in your own community.
This presentation is part of the Mighty Migrations Series, a set of three webinars that feature three INCREDIBLE migration-related topics:
“The Mystery of Migration” by Bill Volkert on August 25, 7pm CT
“Reading the Night Sky: Ecological Forecasting for Bird Conservation” by Kyle Horton on August 26, 7pm CT
“Conserving Birds One Cup of Coffee at a Time” by Kristin Hill on August 27, 7pm
This series is co-hosted by Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, SOS Save Our Songbirds, and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. The Lights Out Alerts presentation is additionally co-hosted by Lights Out Wisconsin.
About the Speaker: Kyle Horton
Kyle Horton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, where he leads the Purdue Aeroecology Lab. His group studies the movements of airborne organisms and their use of the lower atmosphere as habitat. Dr. Horton earned his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware and his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Oklahoma, and he was a Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. His research combines weather surveillance radar and advanced computing to understand bird flights behaviors, forecast bird migration, and guide applied conservation efforts. Dr. Horton has worked to advances in aeroecology, highlighting new insights into bird migration, the development of ecological forecasting tools, and emerging conservation challenges such as light pollution.
Co-hosted by:
Cover photo: Bay-breasted Warbler by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
