帮助候鸟寻找安全的迁徙之路(1)

The night of May 23, 2022, was an exciting one for me.

2022年5月23日的晚上，于我而言是一个激动人心的夜晚。

I was at my house in northern Colorado, winding down for the day.

那晚，我待在科罗拉多州北部的家中，准备休息一天。

My phone buzzed. I pulled up the alert. It showed that a large movement of migratory birds was coming my way, and they might just fly right over my house.

我的电话嗡嗡地响起来。我查看了提示，提示说一大群候鸟正朝我飞来，它们可能正好从我的房子上方飞过。

I stepped outside on that cool, calm, and cloudy night and turned my ears to the sky.

在那个凉爽、平静、多云的夜晚，我走出屋外，侧耳倾听天空的声音。

I could already hear them flying overhead: dozens of Swainson’s Thrushes.

我已经能听到几十只斯氏夜鸫(Swainson’s Thrushes)从头顶飞过。

I rushed inside and turned on my audio recorder.

我冲进屋里，打开录音机。

Before the sun came up the following morning, my microphone captured nearly 1,200 nocturnal flight calls, nearly twice as many as I counted any other night that spring. And I was ready for it.

在第二天早晨太阳升起之前，我的麦克风捕捉到了近1200声鸟儿夜间飞行的鸣叫，几乎是那年春天任何一个夜晚我所计数的两倍。我已经为此做好了准备。

I’m Jacob Job, and you’re listening to the final episode of a five-part Fascination from Science, Quickly on the Nighttime Bird Surveillance Network.

我是雅各布·约伯，您正在收听的是《科学快播》栏目“夜间鸟类监视网”五期系列节目中的最后一期。

Migratory birds are in peril. For many, that peril comes from one very dangerous, if not so obvious, pollutant: artificial light at night.

候鸟处于危险之中。对很多候鸟来说，这种危险来自一种不是那么明显的但却很危险的污染物：夜间的人造光。

This light disorients migratory birds, pulling them off course and putting them in harm’s way.

这种人造光会使候鸟迷失方向，使它们偏离路线，并将它们置于危险之中。

It is thought that artificial light contributes to the deaths of millions of birds each year.

据说，人造光每年会造成数百万只鸟类死亡。

In this episode, we shed some light on how scientists are working to help darken the skies overhead so migratory birds can find safe passage in the night.

在本期节目中，我们会解释科学家是如何致力于将头顶天空变暗，从而使候鸟能够在夜晚找到安全的迁徙之路的。

When that massive movement of migratory Swainson’s Thrushes flew over my house, I was prepared to record it because I had some advanced warning.

当大批迁徙的斯氏夜鸫飞过我的屋顶时，我准备将声音录下来，因为我会提前收到提示。

As science has pulled back the curtain on the magnitude of night migration, its vastness has necessitated the development of technology to detect all of these birds in the night sky.

随着科学揭开了夜间候鸟迁徙规模的面纱，候鸟迁徙规模之大，这就需要技术的发展，目的是为了探测所有这些夜间飞行的候鸟。

Using technology to predict the movement of birds across the continent is not that different from predicting the movement of weather systems.

利用技术预测鸟类在整个大陆的运动与预测天气系统的运动没有太大不同。

We can do this because of radar.

我们可以进行预测，因为有雷达。