Research
Copper Country Bird Club is involved with all things birding and conducts bird research in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Keweenaw Peninsula and the greater Lake Superior watershed.
01
Keweenaw Bird Observatory (KBO)
The Keweenaw Bird Observatory (KBO) is a new, official research project of the Copper Country Bird Club focused on documenting the spectacular migrations of songbirds as they arrive in the Keweenaw Peninsula after crossing Lake Superior. Each spring and fall, large concentrations of birds funnel into this narrow peninsula, creating one of the densest migration corridors in the Great Lakes region. Beginning in spring 2026, the Observatory will harness the flight calls migrants regularly utter on the wing to eavesdrop on migration at three key locations—Bete Grise, Eagle Harbor, and Manitou Island—each site identified as the most important passage sites in a recent scientific study (read the Ecology and Evolution paper). The current KBO project combines nighttime acoustic monitoring with daytime visual counts to track when, how many, and which species are moving through the region. Nighttime detections will be identified to species using the cutting-edge Nighthawk flight-call classification algorithm (learn about the Nighthawk model) and displayed on a public real-time migration dashboard (currently under development—stay tuned for spring 2026). During daylight hours, skilled observers will conduct live visual migration counts, with results available in real time through Trektellen (view live migration counts). Together, these efforts will create the first permanent bird migration observatory in the Keweenaw, supporting long-term research, conservation planning, and public outreach at one of North America’s most important bird migration pathways.
02
Motus is an international research community working together to study the movement and behaviour of birds, bats, and insects. These animals carry miniaturized tags that transmit information to stations placed across the landscape. This powerful conservation tool transforms how we understand and protect biodiversity.
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We have both of our Keweenaw Motus sites up and listening for radio tagged migrant birds. One is at the Calumet sewage ponds and the other on the Phoenix cliffs.
03
Keweenaw Raptor & Owl Banding Research
The Keweenaw Raptor and Owl Banding Research program is a CCBC-supported effort to understand how Lake Superior and the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula concentrate migrating raptors and owls during spring migration. Building on CCBC’s historic hawk counts and extensive exploratory work during the Manitou Island Bird Survey, this research led by raptor biologist Tim Baerwald uses bird banding to document species composition, migration timing, health, and movement pathways that cannot be revealed through visual counts alone. Early results from this ongoing project demonstrate that the Keweenaw is not only a major corridor for diurnal raptors, but also one of the most significant spring migration routes in North America for owls—particularly the poorly understood and declining Long-eared Owl. To date, the program has banded hundreds of diurnal raptors and owls, including nationally significant numbers of Long-eared Owls, underscoring the region’s importance as a migratory bottleneck shaped by Lake Superior. Continued work planned for 2026 will expand these datasets, clarify how raptors and owls navigate around the lake, and strengthen regional and continental research collaborations, establishing the Keweenaw as a premier site for long-term raptor migration research. (Read Tim Baerwald’s project report here.)
04
Trumpeter Swan Recolonization and Nesting Biology
The Copper Country Bird Club has supported a multi-year research effort led by board member Joseph Youngman to document the recolonization and breeding ecology of Trumpeter Swans in the Keweenaw region, including Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties. Once extirpated from the Great Lakes by human activity, Trumpeter Swans have expanded rapidly into the Keweenaw over the past decade, offering a rare opportunity to study the recovery of a native species returning to its historical range. This three-year study used drone-based surveys to locate nests across the peninsula and to monitor breeding ecology in detail, including habitat type, wetland size, brood sizes, movements among wetlands, and fledging success. Preliminary results demonstrate that nesting swans rely heavily on beaver-created wetland complexes and suggest that wetland size plays an important role in fledging success, providing new insight into the breeding biology of Trumpeter Swans in the Keweenaw. By documenting nest distributions across the peninsula, productivity, and family movements during the breeding season, this research establishes a critical baseline for understanding long-term population growth and habitat needs of a recovering species. CCBC-sponsored findings from this work are currently being prepared for publication in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology and contribute important regional context to Trumpeter Swan conservation in the Great Lakes.
05
Research Archive
Copper Country Audubon has been funding modest research projects in the Lake Superior basin since 2002. Almost all of these projects involved the study of bird migration in the area.
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CCA has been involved in the study of raptor migration at Brockway Mountain near Copper Harbor since 2009 and continues to help fund that effort which is now run by the Keweenaw Bird Research Group, a separate organization.
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Beginning in 2002 and continuing through 2016 CCA has funded migration studies at Manitou Island, off the tip of the Keweenaw peninsula. In 2002 through 2005 extensive breeding bird work was done at Manitou as well. A separate website has existed for years giving some of the Manitou Island Bird Survey story.
To view archived research, select the desired pin on the map and then click the link provided.