Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 1d

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

1 25 62

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 6d

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.

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 14d

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

36 420 1.5K

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 16d

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.

21 45

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Sep 5

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

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Sep 4

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.

5 19

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Sep 4

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

1 4 10

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Sep 3

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

3 7

Reposted by Kyle Horton

lights out for migrating birds @lightsoutforbirds.bsky.social · Aug 26

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

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

1 7 11

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Swiss Ornithological Institute @vogelwarte.bsky.social · Jul 2

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....

5 10

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Birgen Haest @birgenhaest.bsky.social · Jul 9

📡 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 📡

Swiss Ornithological Institute @vogelwarte.bsky.social · Jul 2

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....

3 6

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Judy Shamoun-Baranes @judyshamounb.bsky.social · Jul 2

Just over two weeks left to apply

Judy Shamoun-Baranes @judyshamounb.bsky.social · Jun 18

We are hiring a new PhD candidate 🎉as part of the No-REGRETS (NOrth Sea Renewable Energy: Gaining the Required Ecological Knowledge for the TranSition) consortium. If you are excited too, have what we are looking for and interested in joining us please apply. #ornithology #animalmovement

Eldar Rakhimberdiev @eldarrak.bsky.social · Jun 13

New PhD position in our group! Join us to study gull foraging ecology at sea using GPS and accelerometry data! You will be working here Amsterdam Movement Ecology group under supervision of @judyshamounb.bsky.social, @rooskentie.bsky.social and me. Apply here werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

6 4

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Fengyi Guo (Freda) @fyguo.bsky.social · May 30

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/...

1 15 22

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Fengyi Guo (Freda) @fyguo.bsky.social · May 30

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

Assessing the Corn Belt as an anthropogenic barrier to migrating landbirds in the United States

You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.

conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

2 3

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Fengyi Guo (Freda) @fyguo.bsky.social · May 30

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.

1 2 5

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Birder K @birderk.bsky.social · May 1

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

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

1 7 34

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Apr 21

The birds won’t disappoint!

1

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Apr 21

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

1 4 31

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · Apr 2

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.

1 7 17

Reposted by Kyle Horton

BOU @bou.org.uk · Mar 28

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

1 8

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Robert Fletcher @fletcherecology.bsky.social · Mar 12

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...

Biodiversity declines across fragmented forests

Assessing the effect of forest fragmentation on biodiversity.

www.nature.com

2 29 64

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Cecilia Nilsson @cnilsson.science · Mar 5

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

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...

go.nature.com

2 61 120

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Baptiste Schmid @baptischmi.bsky.social · Jan 25

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

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.

5 5

Reposted by Kyle Horton

American Ornithological Society @amornith.bsky.social · Feb 21

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...

2 6

Reposted by Kyle Horton

Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · Feb 19

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.

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.

wilsonsociety.org

1 12 24