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Several past studies have demonstrated the effects of anthropogenic noise on populations of animals. Yet, differing effects of noise by age and subsequent changes in the age structure of populations are poorly understood. We experimentally tested the effects of traffic noise alone on the age structure of a community of migrating birds at a fall stopover site in south‐western Idaho using an array of speakers – creating a phantom road – that replicated the sound of a roadway without other confounding aspects of roads. Both hatch‐year and adult birds were negatively affected by noise – having lower capture rates, lower body condition and lower stopover efficiency along the phantom road when the noise was on compared to control conditions. However, hatch‐year birds responded more strongly which lead to a significant shift in the ratio of hatch‐year to adult birds under noisy conditions. Our previous work using the …