Millions of birds of several hundred species migrate between breeding areas in temperate North America and wintering areas at more southerly latitudes.  Birds undertake numerous flights in their travels between breeding and wintering areas, and require adequate stopover areas in order to rest and refuel between migratory flights.  

At Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, our primary research program focuses on studying landbirds during these temporal breaks in migration (stopover ecology).  Information from our migration monitoring operations has been used to examine the timing of migration of various species, differential migration patterns between age and sex classes within species, rates of energetic condition change during stopover, and other questions regarding stopover behavior.  To ensure long-term consistency in data collection, we strictly follow our migration monitoring protocol.

We conduct numerous smaller research projects in addition to our long-term migration monitoring operations.  Research methods used to study birds are examined in our elevated net project, and the breeding success of a declining species is examined in our Black Tern project.

More information on our research program can be found by following the links to the left.  For more information on the data we collect, or to explore collaborative research ideas, please contact our research department.