Keweenaw Acoustic Monitoring Study Published in Ecology and Evolution

Zach Gayk’s acoustic monitoring study—funded by the Copper Country Bird Club

(CCBC) and the Keweenaw Community Forest Company - has been published in

Ecology and Evolution. Using an array of acoustic recorders along Lake Superior’s south shore, the study recorded nearly three million songbird flight calls from more than 60 migratory species, uncovering a major migratory pathway across the Keweenaw Peninsula.

When winds made Lake Superior crossings unfavorable, migrants reoriented across the peninsula, with morning headwinds and crosswinds shaping westward, into-the-wind movements that likely corrected wind drift over the lake. Under more favorable wind conditions, migrants continued toward their intended destinations. These results demonstrate that the Keweenaw Peninsula -particularly its tip - is a critical and nationally significant landscape for migrating birds, and that acoustic monitoring is a powerful tool for revealing key migration pathways. High-passage sites identified in this study will now form the Keweenaw Bird Observatory’s long-term monitoring program. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72635