THE BLUE MOUNTAINS, ONT. -- One night, a strange formation on a weather radar intrigued CTV reporter Roger Klein, who dove deeper into what he thought he might have spotted.
Klein noticed "small echoes and their numbers were growing."
He was so intrigued he followed up on his hunch that the radar detected migrating birds with ecologist Scott Martin, who echoed his thoughts.
"They do most of their migration at night," Martin said. "They stop and feed throughout the day, rest up and migrate at night again. Studies have found they are actually following star patterns and the earth's magnetic field to find their way during migration."
Klein also contacted Environment Canada, which confirmed the echoes on radar were likely birds, considering the weather was clear across the region at the time.
The occurrence is nothing new to researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York State, who have already shown that radar can be used to measure the number of birds on the move.
"The radar doesn't see individual birds. It more says the measure of biomass, so how much meat is in the air," explained Dr. Adriaan M. Dokter. "So if you make an average assumption of a bird is this size, you can divide the total biomass by the mass of one bird, and then we get an estimate of how many birds are migrating."
Dokter's research helped illustrate how billions of birds have disappeared since 1970. He's also developed the maps used in a system called 'Birdcast,' a type of high-tech online birdwatching that Dokter hopes will raise awareness.
"To make a difference in conservation, people have to know and love these birds and care about them. Tell stories about them and their spectacular journeys, flying thousands of miles that helps," Doktor said.
The migration typically intensifies through April into early May. Researchers even started using weather radar to follow insects, like butterflies and dragonflies.
With files from CTV's Kim Phillips
