Complex
factors determine when migrating songbirds make their journeys
Date:
November 2, 2015
Source:
National Science Foundation
Every
year, backyard songbirds across the United States make an arduous journey to
warmer winter climes. They migrate hundreds of miles, occasionally braving
tough terrain and nasty weather. Sometimes, they have no place to stop and
refuel along the way.
Birds
actually weigh these risks using a combination of factors--fat, weather and
date--to make a migration risk assessment, according to new research funded by
the National Science Foundation (NSF). The findings can serve as the basis for
building better conservation strategies, researchers say.
The
work focused on three species of songbirds, red-eyed vireos, Swainson's
thrushes and wood thrushes, as they crossed the Gulf of Mexico, from coastal
Alabama to the Yucatan Peninsula. The researchers published their findings in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"There
are a lot of studies looking at bird's departure behavior or arrival
behavior," said Jill Deppe, a biologist at Eastern Illinois University and
principal investigator on the NSF award. "This is the first time we've
been able to take a subset of birds and gather data on both."
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