SYDNEY, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers said on Monday they have used weather radar technology to accurately track the migration of birds along the country's east coast for the first time.
A team from the University of Queensland (UQ) used 16 years of data from weather radars to monitor bird migration patterns from the southern island state of Tasmania to Queensland in the northeast.
The team, led by UQ PhD candidate Xu Shi, found that the migration of birds in Australia differs from that in North America and Europe.
"The data showed lots of variation in migration direction, timing, and intensity from year to year when compared to Northern Hemisphere birds, which are very rigidly tied to seasons," Xu, who previously worked at non-governmental organizations in China conducting citizen science biodiversity surveys, said in a media release.
In one example they found that the silvereye, a very small bird found across the southwest Pacific, migrates from Tasmania to southeast Queensland but that every bird does not make the full migration every year, with some traveling shorter distances.
The research also found that many Australian birds migrate during the day, a behavior that is not seen in the Northern Hemisphere.
Richard Fuller, co-author of the study from the UQ School of the Environment, said that using weather radars to track birds will help researchers further explore how climate change and environmental shifts affect migration patterns and could boost conservation efforts in Australia and globally. ■
