Birds migrate along ancient routes -- here's how scientists are studying their journeys

[marmar]

Birds migrate along ancient routes — here's how scientists are studying their journeys
Technology is providing new insights into bird migration, revealing that it is more complex than we ever knew

By TOM LANGEN
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 4, 2022 2:59PM




This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Although it still feels like beach weather across much of North America, billions of birds have started taking wing for one of nature's great spectacles: fall migration. Birds fly south from the northern U.S. and Canada to wintering grounds in the southern U.S., Caribbean and Latin America, sometimes covering thousands of miles. Other birds leave temperate Eurasia for Africa, tropical Asia or Australia.

Using observation records and data collected through bird banding, 20th-century ornithologists roughly mapped general migration routes and timing for most migratory species. Later, using radar at airports and weather stations, they discovered how weather and other factors affect when birds migrate and how high they fly.

Today, technological advances are providing new insights into bird migration and showing that it is more complex and wonderful than scientists ever imagined. These new and constantly improving technologies are key aids for protecting migratory birds in the face of habitat loss and other threats.

Migratory flyways are paths that birds have traveled for centuries. Scientists are working to better understand how birds use these routes.

....(snip)....

Tracking individual birds via satellite

Three new technologies are rapidly expanding what we know about bird migration. The first is satellite telemetry of bird movement. Researchers fit birds with small solar-powered transmitters, which send data on the birds' locations to a satellite and then on to a scientist's office computer. The scientist can learn where a bird is, the route it took to get there and how fast it travels.

For example, the bar-tailed godwit, a pigeon-sized shorebird, breeds in Alaska and then migrates to New Zealand. Satellite transmitters show that godwits often fly nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand. Recently, a godwit set the record for the longest nonstop flight by a land bird: 8,100 miles (13,000 kilometers) in 10 days, from Alaska to Australia. ........................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/09/04/birds-migrate-along-ancient-routes--heres-how-scientists-are-studying-their-journeys_partner/

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R! Fascinating! Thanks for posting!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Astounding! Doesn't seem possible... 🌏

Thank you. 👋