Waterfowl Roosting Areas Layer

What are Waterfowl Roosting Areas?

Waterfowl Roosting Areas show you where ducks and geese are settling in at dawn—before they head out to feed or migrate. Think of it as a real-time heatmap of overnight bird concentrations, based on where waterfowl choose to roost for safety, warmth, and visibility. By identifying these high-activity areas, FowlTracker helps you plan your hunts more effectively—whether you're setting up on a flight line or scouting nearby feed fields.

How Does the Model Work?

FowlTracker uses a machine learning roost prediction model that analyzes radar data, weather conditions, and habitat features to estimate where birds are roosting each morning. Areas with higher bird concentrations will show up in more intense colors, while areas with low or no waterfowl activity appear in lighter shades.

Example of Waterfowl Roosting Map

How to Interpret the Data

The Waterfowl Roosting Map uses a gradient color scale to indicate estimated concentrations of roosting birds. Darker, more intense colors represent areas with higher roosting activity, while lighter colors indicate low or no bird presence.

Roosting Intensity Scale

Extreme: Major roost site with dense flocks (prime hunting sign)
Very High: Heavy roosting activity (strong bird presence)
High: Consistent roost use (active flocks nearby)
Moderate: Noticeable roosting (good local activity)
Light: Scattered roosting (few birds holding in area)

When the map is fully zoomed in, the roosting layer displays pixels as small as 250 square meters (1/16th of an acre), providing fine-grained insights.

What Date Ranges is the Data Available For?

FowlTracker provides access to historical roosting data from:

  • November 1 to March 31 of each hunting season.
  • Data is available going back to November 1, 2022, so you can track seasonal migration patterns.
Example of Roosting Date Picker

When is New Data Available?

Roosting maps are generated daily, based on the previous day’s data. This means:

  • The Friday morning roosting model becomes available on Saturday morning.
  • Maps are typically processed and available by noon Pacific Time.

Hunters can use this to track movement trends, find consistent roosts, and adjust their strategies throughout the season.

What Locations is the Data Available For?

FowlTracker is rapidly expanding coverage. Currently, we serve a growing portion of the U.S. and are on track to provide data for over 60% of the country this season.

Roosting Map Coverage Example

How Do We Get This Data?

Our Roosting Model combines multiple environmental data sources to generate the Waterfowl Roosting Areas Layer. It uses:

  • NOAA’s NEXRAD Radar – Detects biological movement before sunrise.
  • Weather Patterns – Wind, temperature, precipitation, and barometric pressure.
  • Habitat Maps – Wetlands, rivers, lakes, and known roosting zones.

By combining these data sources, FowlTracker provides an accurate and timely prediction of where birds are roosting each morning—giving hunters a powerful scouting tool without disturbing critical habitat.