Our research results highlight the potential role of radar in implementing the USFWS Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines and to help to identify areas where impacts to wildlife would be minimized. We documented migration activity in the air space above our study areas, which indicates that the density of targets at low altitudes may be present conservation concerns. The data we collected revealed the ebb and flow of migration across the sampling period, with nocturnal peaks that continued into June. Given the length of time during which migration occurred at the sampled sites, curtailing wind energy operations during nocturnal pulses could result in limited operational time along the shoreline during the migration season. Combining the results of radar studies and fatality searches would greatly improve risk assessments and facilitate the interpretation of standardized radar studies. This report highlights some considerations regarding avian radar and reviews potentially confusing metrics. We also introduce new metrics to report radar data. In addition to providing information relevant to wildlife conservation in the Great Lakes region, the concepts we present in this report are widely relevant to reviews of avian radar studies and provide methods that identify components of migration such as the following: Nocturnal pulses; Season length; Estimated density per altitude band; and Migrant behavior near a geographical obstacle.
Publication date
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Report
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Public Domain