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Satellites are helping to feed tired and hungry birds.

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A project using NASA / USGS satellites

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and citizen science 

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has resulted in new ‘pop-up’ habitats for shorebirds.

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Roughly 7000 acres of temporary wetlands were created in California

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from February to April 2016

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to aid birds during their migration.

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Every spring, shorebirds migrate up the Pacific Flyway.

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During this long journey they refuel by feeding in wetlands

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but 95% of these habitats have been lost to farmland and drought. 

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To help birds, The Nature Conservancy wanted to try something different. 

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Their BirdReturns program partnered with farmers by paying them to flood their fields when migrating birds traveled through the area. 

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Scientists used a database with more than 100 million bird sightings to predict where and when birds migrate.

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The whiter the area, the more likely the chance to spot birds.

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An 11-year satellite record helped predict

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where water was located through the year.

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Both datasets are analyzed to produce targets for flooding, 

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which are areas with little water but many birds.

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"Our program creates, for these certain weeks of the year, temporary pop-up wetland habitat”.

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Mark Reynolds, Ecologist

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Scientists see BirdReturns as a model for managing scarce water for people and nature. 

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