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Spring
Bird Migration Across the Florida Keys
A
National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler
(WSR-88D) unit was constructed near Key West in the mid-1990s during
the heart of the NWS "modernization and restructuring" era.
The Key West WSR-88D has proven to be an extremely valuable meteorological
tool, assisting weather forecasters at the NWS forecast office in
Key West with discerning the location and strength of a variety
of weather phenomena, including severe thunderstorms, tornadoes,
waterspouts, and tropical systems. The Key West WSR-88D also
can detect the location and movement of another natural phenomenon;
namely, birds!
Every
year during the Spring, several species of birds migrate northward
through the Florida Keys from their winter habitats in the tropics.
The numerous mud flats and mangrove islands surrounding the Florida
Keys offer a perfect "rest stop" for some of these migrating birds.
Others just pass right on over the island chain toward their summer
habitats to the north. Similarly, every Autumn birds migrate
southward through the Florida Keys, back to their winter habitats.
Over 16 species of raptors migrate through the Keys each year, with
more peregrine falcons migrating through the Keys than anywhere
else in the United States!
The
spring migration of land birds and shorebirds across the Gulf of
Mexico begins in the first and second week of March, reaches a peak
in late April/early May, and is essentially over by the third week
in May.
The
doppler radar image loop below shows a late night/early morning
bird migration
episode
on April 28, 2002. It has been estimated by ornithologists
that in the dark
green
radar reflectivity areas (25-30 DBZ), nearly 10,000 birds per mile
are crossing over!
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National Weather Service Forecast Office
