Factors That Influence Bird Migration

[SeaBreeze]

The most obvious bird migration that I notice where I live are the large number of Canadian Geese, I'll see dozens of them in certain open areas sometimes snuggled in the fallen snow. Listening to them and watching them fly overhead on a brisk snowy winter's day is always entertaining. More about why birds migrate here.

Bird migration may be one of the true wonders of the world. One reason for this is that there are 10,600 known species of birds, although most don’t take flight for the purpose of relocating in one fantastic commute for thousands of miles. Only about 15 percent of the total bird population worldwide commit themselves to these annual aerial expeditions.

How do they know when to go? How do they know where to go? One simple explanation for why they fly is that, like creatures confined to the ground, food is a driving compulsion, but also, in the sustenance-seeking pursuit, wise energy consumption is paramount. Interestingly, birds can sleep as they fly, which explains how many are able to travel so far in such short periods.

Like those whose search depends largely on where sustainable food sources are located, it often depends on the weather, or more specifically, the season. In the fall, when dipping temperatures and shorter days are harbingers of the impending expiration of abundant or even available food, there’s a sort of bird call, if you will, for survival and the quest for plenty that can only be answered by relocating.

One author called it “seasonal ecological adjustment on a gigantic scale.”[SUP]1[/SUP] It’s also nature’s answer to global bird distribution — or redistribution — accomplished through an impulse guided by instinct. When the roughly 5 billion birds enter U.S. air space every year, they often come from points as far south as the tropics, but it depends on the migratory species and where each needs to go to find a place to spend the winter.

Another factor is the nesting instinct, as many bird species are flying to find safe breeding grounds and a place to rear their young. However, a recent study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution put the whole phenomenon down to an interesting premise — that for every migrating bird species, whether large or small, and as widely as their behaviors may vary, all that flying is really all about energy efficiency.

 

[Falcon]

We have Peacocks here in this area. So beautiful when they spread their tail feathers.

But sometimes they can be pests ! They eat some flowers and are not too sanitary when they defecate. UGH !

 

[Don M.]

Flocks of Geese flying South seems to be the Best indicator of Winter really approaching...those birds are more reliable than Any human forecasters...IMO. We still have quite a few hummingbirds visiting our feeders, so hopefully the cold weather is still weeks away.

 

[hollydolly]

WE have a lot of Canada geese here..but they are sedentary, they don't migrate....

here's some pics I've taken of the Canada Geese in the lakes and rivers near us....

 

[Keesha]

And aren’t they just beautiful ? :smug1:



We get a huge flock of grackles each autumn. Perhaps 2 to 3 thousand of them.
I have also seen migrating butterflies land here as well as evening grosbeaks

This is an evening grosbeak