Migratory birds regularly fly across national borders from between breeding and wintering grounds, respectively Donald W. Sparling. They have flying muscles (chest) who contract and rest while flying for hours, which means they rely on oxidative pathways for energy production, as reported by Science Direct.
Under the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918, the FWS (Bureau of Biological Research) is responsible for the conservation of migratory birds within the United States.
Their mission is to “conserve migratory bird populations and their habitats for future generations, through careful monitoring, effective management, and by supporting national and international partnerships that conserving habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. “
However, the number of migratory birds has declined recently. Most of these birds travel at night when predators are low, although scientists are not sure how the birds can see at night. But they saw that migratory birds are attracted and attracted by the light pollution in the cities, so they set their eyes on making cities more vibrant for migratory birds.
Citizen Science Initiatives
Migratory birds passing through urban areas could collide with buildings or capture communication towers. Over the last 50 years, their population has gradually declined and light-polluted cities can contribute to this loss. Scientists agree that light pollution upsets migratory birds and makes them difficult to navigate.
However, monitoring and recording bird migration is challenging, especially at night as these species are very small, limiting the tracking devices used by scientists.
But thanks to the internet and other information technologies, it has been possible to gather information on bird migration. Not to mention the citizen science campaigns where volunteers post online the observation of bird migration and the natural world. Information from them has become a valuable resource for researchers.
For example, the eBird initiative allows birdwatchers around the world to share their ideas from anywhere and anytime which has resulted in one of the largest citizen science databases in the world. world with over 922 million birdwatches from 617.00 participants.
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Light pollution attracts and reacts migratory birds
The researchers wrote The Conversation when they analyzed some data from eBird, they found that cities with higher numbers of migratory birds in spring and autumn have higher levels of light pollution and in the spring. This means that light pollution attracts some species during migration, increasing the number of species that would normally be found in urban areas.
On the other hand, higher levels of light pollution also mean that there are fewer migratory birds in summer and winter due to scarcity and suitable housing in urban areas, such as large forest patches. During these seasons, migratory birds are only active during the day which creates fewer opportunities to attract them to urban areas.
But the researchers also found that tree canopy cover is associated with more migratory birds in spring and summer during breeding and migration. Thus the presence of trees could affect the number of migratory birds in cities.
In addition, they also found that higher levels of opaque surface are associated with more winter migratory birds, which may be due to the effects of urban heat island. The researchers believe that the buildings, roads, and parking lots in the cities make the cities warmer than the surrounding lands, thus reducing cold stress on the birds. and increasing their food facilities.
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