Kyle Horton

Another massive movement of migratory birds underway tonight — nearly 1 Billion Birds! With the full moon, you might be able to see some silhouettes zipping by. You can make your own flow maps here (just hit record): aeroecolab.com/uslights

I don’t recall for that night, but you can see densities here: aeroecolab.com/uslights. You can hover on any of the radar sites and it’ll show traffic rates, speed, direction, and flight heights.

Truly impressive number of birds migrating tonight. More than 800 MILLION birds up in the air right now❗ #BirdMigration

7-Day Bird Migration Forecast

We’re entering the peak of fall migration across most of the U.S. Hundreds of millions of birds are on the move, with Thursday and Friday forecast to be the biggest nights of the season so far — over 400 million birds predicted to be taking flight.

Looks like this was caused by the passing weather system. While we try to filter to just birds, it’s not always perfect.

Lots and lots and lots of birds taking off tonight. Here's what things look like detected by the Milwaukee radar (KMKX): Night of September 3, 2025.

Migration is roaring across the Midwest tonight! Check out the real-time flow visualization to watch it unfold: aeroecolab.com/uslights

Tonight’s forecast: 304 million birds expected to migrate across the U.S. 🕊️📡
The Upper Midwest is especially active – keep an eye on the skies and consider going “Lights Out” to help reduce risks for nocturnal migrants.
#BirdMigration #LightsOut #Midwest

Night of August 25, 2025 Chicago Rockford Aurora 10.1 M birds flying over Illinois Birds forecast over city area 29.8 K Chicago 10.5 K Rockford 6.3 K Aurora Lights out alert level None Low Med High

aeroecolab.com/illinois
turn off non-essential outdoor lighting from 11 pm–6 am & close shades to reduce skyglow for migrating birds

Combining weather radar data with environmental data, @birgenhaest.bsky.social and co-authors found that peak roosting phenology of migrating martins and swallows in the Great Lakes region is paced by both local and distant conditions. Read more on doi.org/10.1111/geb....

📡 Why do Martins and Swallows pass by the Great Lakes when they do - Great collaboration with Yuting Deng and @kyle-horton.bsky.social. @biodiversa.eu 📡

Just over two weeks left to apply

1. Did you know that the Corn Belt in the Midwest USA is so vast you can see it from space? 🌽 How would this affect billions of migrating songbirds passing through each year? 🐦 Check out our new study in @conbiology.bsky.social
to find out! 🧵1/8 conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

What to learn more? #BirdMigration #Conservation
Check out our full study in @conbiology.bsky.social
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/RCKH33...
Or read this great article by Kathi Borgmann summarizing these findings: news.cornell.edu/stories/2025....
@cornellbirds.bsky.social

Grateful to collaborate with an amazing team on this work. @jbuler.bsky.social, Adriaan Dokter, @kyle-horton.bsky.social, @emlbcohen.bsky.social, Dan Sheldon, Jaclyn Smolinsky, and David Wilcove.

Lights Out alert map for the U.S. showing almost all the states in some level of needing lights out for birds.

Lots of Lights Out alerts tonight as we come into the mad rush that is Maygration.
#birds #spring #migration #LightsOutForBirds

The birds won’t disappoint!

Spring is for the grouse and chickens! Colorado leks have been 🔥🔥🔥 (w/@carburt.bsky.social). Greater Sage-Grouse and Greater Prairie-Chickens 📷

Birds will be arriving soon! This map shows peak migration dates across the US modeled using radar data. Keep in mind, the dates represent peaks, but migration usually plays out across a couple of weeks, so estimate ± 1 week on either side of the dates on the map for max migration activity.

Ornithology: Night flight communication across species boundaries | www.cell.com/current... | @currentbiology.bsky.social | #ornithology 🪶

Biodiversity declines across fragmented forests Assessing the effect of forest fragmentation on biodiversity.

New article out today in @nature.com by Gonçalves-Souza, @nickhaddad.bsky.social, @jon-chase03.bsky.social et al. on forest fragmentation and biodiversity:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A must read for anyone interested in this topic. See my summary here:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

European data on animals aloft now publicly available Weather radars detect more than weather, they also continuously register the movements of billions of animals (birds, bats, insects) in the air. Those data are now publicly available for large parts o...

Weather radars continuously register the movements of billions of animals in the air! We have now published datasets covering large parts of Europe, providing an overview of the aerial habitat in a way no other method can.

Data is available on Alofdata.eu , see our blogpost:
go.nature.com/3F0wQ0L

Summary text of the planned EOU symposium (Bangor, Wales UK, 18-22 August 2025): Artificial light at night (ALAN) can drastically alter the environment of migratory birds, both on their breeding grounds, non-breeding grounds and during their migratory journeys. ALAN can therefore disrupt the birds' evolved response to natural changes in environmental light. For example, light is an important cue for determining the circa-annual cycle of birds, and birds use it to orientate during their migratory flights. The scale of the problem has been recognised by the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), which aims to identify knowledge gaps and develop guidelines to reduce the impact of light pollution on migratory species. This symposium aims to present the latest research on the effects of ALAN on migratory birds, identify research gaps, and to improve our understanding of how to adapt research projects in order to translate research results into policy and legislation.

Happy to co-organise a symposium on migratory birds and artificial light at night: from research to policy. #ornithology #aeroecology submit 👆🏽your abstract before March 15 😀 #eou2025

Abstracts for #AOS25 Oral Presentations & Posters are due by 3/16/25. Share your research. The submission form includes a set of questions for those who want to be considered for the Student Presentation Award competition! meeting.americanornithology.org/call-for-abs...

Guest Post – Radar vs. Reality: Ground-Truthing NEXRAD Estimates of Migrating Birds Every birder I know has been influenced by the integration of radar into ornithology.

There's a new guest post on the WOS blog! WOS Research Award recipient @mikkojimenez.bsky.social writes about his efforts to ground-truth radar #ornithology data in Colorado.

Donate to Help Flocks take flights for ornithologists!, organized by Ashley Dayer We all need a space to feel we belong and where we are supported. This is wh… Ashley Dayer needs your support for Help Flocks take flights for ornithologists!

Hey #ornithologists or really anyone. Help Flocks Take Flight by donating today: www.gofundme.com/f/flocks-for...

YouTube video by Kyle Horton Radar revelations: insect availability influences parental provisioning in breeding Tree Swallows

For a video abstract, go here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdkD...

My rockstar of a friend just got her first master's paper published!

Check it out here:
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

@kyle-horton.bsky.social @mikkojimenez.bsky.social

Using weather radar and automated flight call monitoring to sample migration in the American West - American Ornithological Society How to describe something we cannot see? This challenge defines nocturnal bird migration research. Every spring and fall, millions of birds fly through the night, journeying between wintering and bree...

Read the latest blog post on Wing Beat, "Using weather radar and automated flight call monitoring to sample migration in the American West" by Dylan M. Osterhaus.
Blog post: americanornithology.org/using-weathe...
Related paper: academic.oup.com/condor/advan...
#ornithology #nocturnalmigration

Brett Scheffers and I are seeking a postdoctoral research scholar to join the 2025-2027 Future of Species Range Shifts cohort as part of the Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral (CAP) Fellows Program.

The postdoc would be hosted here at UF.

More here: jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu/view-job/?id...