Roost rings: Huge flock of migrant birds shows up on weather radar

ATLANTA — It wasn’t rain or snow that was lighting up the radar in parts of Georgia.

A huge flock of birds, called a roost ring, showed up on the National Weather Service radar this morning.

The donut-shaped signature on radar is caused by birds leaving their roosting site and flying away in all directions.

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The birds are detected by radar until they fly above or below the radar beam and are not able to be detected.

The two sites were detected in Troup County and in Sumter County in south Georgia.

But this isn’t the first time this has happened.

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In June 2020, StormTracker 2HD picked up a flock of migrant birds taking off in Middle Georgia.

While we don’t know exactly what kind of birds were taking off, we know that this is the time that many birds make the journey north.

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