As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Migratory birds: flying without borders

Storks, wild geese or swallows - many bird species fly enormous distances each year between their hatcheries and winter quarters. World Migratory Bird Day was set up to raise awareness and protect them. 

World Migratory Bird Day (May 11-12) wants to raise awareness about the dangers faced by migrating birds, which European citizens are more likely to see now that it's getting warmer. One example: spring has arrived and the swallows are back. After a long winter in warmer African climates, the birds with the blue, black and white feathers have flown back thousands of kilometers to breed in Europe. 

"Migratory birds are programmed to reach their breeding grounds exactly when their prey is ready for the picking. When the trees are budding, there are many caterpillars for birds to feed their chicks in the nest," Fernando Spina explained in a DW interview. 

Spina is scientific head of the Italian Institute for the Protection and Exploration of Wild Animals (ISTRA) in Bologna, and also chairman of the Scientific Council of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), situated in Bonn, Germany.


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