'Roost rings' picked up in South Florida by National Weather Service radar
Evanescent crowns bursting with hues of yellow and blue were captured on National Weather Service radar this week in South Florida as flocks of birds took to the air at first light.
The so-called 'roost rings," which resemble the random eruptions of a grand finale fireworks show, were captured by meteorologists in the Miami office of the NWS on one of the most powerful weather-detection machines in the world, the WSR-88D radar.
Meteorologist Sammy Hadi said it's not unusual to see the roost rings on radar, especially this time of year when birds may be leaving wintertime homes to migrate north. The astronomical first day of spring is March 20, but meteorological spring began March 1.
'It is quite common to pick up migration patterns,' Hadi said.
But it's also possible the birds seen the morning of March 5 are full-time residents of the Everglades just out for their daily meal.
Birds are most often seen on radar during morning hours because that's when a temperature inversion — when temperatures warm with height — is more likely to suppress the radar beam.
More: After a season of death by starvation, wading birds are on the rebound if rains stay away
Radar works by sending out microwaves that bounce off objects and are reflected back to the radar antenna. When birds leave their nests, they interact with the pulses of energy emitted by the radar. Those pulses fade or disappear as the birds fly above or below the radar beam.
Advances in radar technology have allowed researchers and meteorologists to more easily tell the difference between weather, such as rain showers, and critters, including bats, bugs and migrating birds.
'It's fascinating stuff,' Hadi said. 'Weather radars are amazing, and they can pick up everything.'
Scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology used 143 weather radars to study bird migration patterns nationwide between 2013 and 2017. Their research found fall migrations bring 4 billion birds into the skies over the United States.
They could also estimate bird survival rates between autumn and spring migrations, finding that long-distance fliers that cross into Central America had a 76% rate of return, compared to 64% of those with shorter migrations such as from Canada into the contiguous United States.
The study says that birds who stay in the U.S. may have a higher number of hazards to deal with, such as buildings to crash into and habitat disturbance.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami National Weather Service radar picks up roost rings in Everglades
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