Cellular network measurements can unravel spatiotemporal properties of bird movement to enhance basic and applied knowledge globally.

The article focuses on a novel method for monitoring bird movement by analyzing signal attenuation in Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) of cellular communication networks. Using data from operational CMLs in Southern Israel, the study demonstrates a significant correlation between daily and seasonal patterns of signal attenuation and bird migration activity recorded by a nearby bird radar, particularly for water birds. This approach leverages existing wireless infrastructure to detect low-altitude bird movements without additional hardware or costs, addressing gaps in current monitoring methods limited by radar coverage near the ground. The authors suggest that further development could enable large-scale, long-term bird migration monitoring and provide early warnings to mitigate bird–aircraft collisions, especially in regions lacking conventional radar systems.