Many birds migrate at night to and from their wintering & breeding grounds, and during these nocturnal flights many utter short vocalizations to keep in contact. This study involves a transect of listening stations across Lake Ontario's southern coastal plain that monitors the night sky for such migratory bird calls. In spring 2026, six automatic bird call monitoring stations will be located at schools (see station map below) with options for student participation. Additional stations will be located along the shoreline surveying for large nocturnal movements that sometimes occur along the shoreline when weather conditions do not facilitate northward migration over the Lake. 

Automatic bird call detectors are being evaluated for their accuracy in detecting and identifying migratory bird calls, and automatic detections of several species and warbler & sparrow call totals will be posted each morning to an online call archive.