Sandy Hook: Analysis of Nocturnal Bird Calls

by Hannah Meyer, Margaret Roth, and Kaitlyn Van Nostrand
Marine Academy of Science & Technology (M.A.S.T.)

In order to properly classify the birdcalls we designed a strategy.  First, we separated the recorded sounds into two categories; bird and non-bird.  Then we compiled a list of birds who would likely be found migrating in autumn over Sandy Hook.  The final list was composed of the following birds: Swamp Sparrow, Black Throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula, Ovenbird, American Redstart, American Tree Sparrow, Black Throated Blue Warbler, Blue Jay, Chirping Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Indigo Bunting, Palm Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Wilson's Warbler, and Yellow Warbler.  We proceeded to separate the calls by day into separate folders.  The folders were named for the species birdcalls which they contained.  We placed the bird calls that we were unable to identify with any specific bird into a separate file named "unsure".  After this was complete we used the data we collected and compared it to the conditions outside that day.

  (Click here to learn more about the classifying software and reference materials used by the students)

On the first night of data collection, September 16, the base was unable to determine if there was any precipitation in New Jersey.  The amount of birdcalls recorded this evening was very low.  This is quite possibly due to technical difficulties we experienced with our recording system. The results in each species were the following:

September 17 proved to be an excellent migration night.  There was no precipitation and NE winds ranged from ten to fifteen knots. We recorded a total of ninety-nine calls.

The night of September 18 had strong winds.  They blew NE at speeds of twenty-five to thirty knots.  This condition resulted in less migration. The total number of birdcalls on this day was twenty-one.

Hurricane Isabel struck on the night of September 19.  It brought high winds.  There were no migration patterns.  These conditions caused our bird count to be zero.

The night of September 20 showed scattered precipitation along New Jersey's coast and winds NE at thirty-six knots. It was presumed to be a bad migration day, however we did record three yellow warblers but no other species.

The night of September 21 was predicted to have possible migration.  There was a west wind blowing at fifteen knots and no rain. We recorded a total of eighteen bird calls, a relatively small amount.

The night of September 22 was not a popular migration time.  There was no rain with NNW winds of only five to ten knots and possible converging winds from ESE that caused no migration to occur. We supported this conclusion by recording only five total birds.

The night of September 23 included wide spread precipitation along with a cold front and winds from SSW to NE at thirty-six knots. We recorded little migration, only three bird calls were recorded on this night.