Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Bird Migrations trending north

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Wateree, South Carolina
    Posts
    48,808

    Default Bird Migrations trending north

    Climate Change And Shifts In The Migration Patterns Of Birds

    Just in time for World Migratory Bird Day, May 10, an article in the April issue of Animal Behaviour explores the impact of shifting migration patterns in one population of migratory birds.

    An international team of biologists and ecologists used GPS and body-acceleration data on juvenile white storks to report on shifts in the birds' migratory behaviors. They concluded that "wintering in Europe instead of Africa enhances juvenile survival in a long-distance migrant," which is also the title of their paper.

    The research team lead by Shay Rotics of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem starts by noting that bird migration patterns are known to be marked by plasticity:

    "In many Holarctic bird species, migration phenology is adjusting towards an earlier arrival to breeding grounds to accommodate the earlier onset of spring [brought about by global warming]. In addition, an increasing number of studies have also reported that Holarctic migrants are shortening their migration and overwinter at higher latitudes closer to their breeding grounds."
    Their study birds, 54 white storks from a population located in Germany, illustrates this in-progress shift in overwintering. Traditionally, these birds use a flyway corridor to migrate to Africa — but now a minority of them migrate within Europe, a much shorter distance.

    Rotics not only compared the survival rates of six Europe-overwintering and 48 Africa-overwintering juvenile white storks, they also fitted the birds with small solar-charged GPS transmitters to monitor specifics of their movement patterns.

    Of the six Europe-overwintering birds, 100 percent survived through their first year, versus only 38 percent of the Africa-overwintering ones. It's hard to pinpoint precisely why that survival difference occurred, but thanks to the GPS data, a key probable factor — in addition to the obvious one of the reduced flight distance involved — can be suggested.

    At the Europe overwintering grounds, the birds displayed reduced movement, and used smaller foraging habitats. They foraged more at anthropogenic sites such as rubbish dumps and agricultural areas, which apparently takes less energy than hunting for prey in the wild.

    That probably helped all of them to make it, instead of only a fraction.

    So how come, then, do most of these white storks go all the way to Africa, if they can do well closer to home? Rotics et al. do consider the question of whether the migrators to Africa "display suboptimal migratory behavior." Here's what they write:

    "Our findings relate to the first-year period, although, in the long run, overwintering in Europe might not necessarily be the optimal option, possibly due to long-term detrimental effects of feeding on waste or erratic effects of severe winters. Furthermore, survival benefits of overwintering in Europe may be restricted to juveniles and might even be reversed at older ages, as has been found in other birds."
    They go on to note that a European Union directive to reduce open landfill areas is likely to significantly decrease the suitability of European wintering grounds for migratory birds, including white storks.

    It would be entirely wrong to jump from a study showing good survival in a small sample of white storks to a conclusion that anthropogenic global warming isn't so bad after all for migratory birds because they are reducing their flight distance and thriving closer to home.

    As Rotics et al. explain, we know neither the long-term effects of Europe overwintering on bird survival nor whether the suitability of those European landscapes for migratory birds will be sustained.

    Even more importantly, the overall threats of global warming to birds generally are quite clear. The 2014 Audubon Climate report's headline is pithy and pointed: "314 Species on the Brink: Shrinking and shifting ranges could imperil nearly half of U.S. birds within this century." The reported details lay out the causes for this peril.

    And that's just one analysis, for one geographic region.

    Migratory birds, so fascinating in their nomadic behavior as science writer Carl Zimmer described earlier this year in The New York Times, increasingly face a whole variety of new risks because of the ways we humans alter the landscape.

    More science will help us understand what is happening to migratory birds and how they are — and aren't — able to cope.

    Barbara J. King is an anthropology professor emerita at the College of William and Mary. She often writes about the cognition, emotion and welfare of animals, and about biological anthropology, human evolution and gender issues. Barbara's new book is Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat. You can keep up with what she is thinking on Twitter: @bjkingape

    http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    3,399

    Default

    Nobody told the geese. I have to fight armies of Canadian geese every time I step out my back door. I hate them. A goose can shit out a bigger turd than a pitbull.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Upstate
    Posts
    2,153

    Default

    "Barbara J. King is an anthropology professor emerita at the College of William and Mary. She often writes about the cognition, emotion and welfare of animals, and about biological anthropology, human evolution and gender issues. Barbara's new book is Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat. "

    I don't trust anything written by a person with this bio.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Greenwood
    Posts
    1,996

    Default

    Do they say eh when fly by your house?

    I think anyone who hunts the Midwest can attest to this same thing occurring in North America. If they have open water and food, they have no reason to come south.
    "A duck call in the hands of the unskilled is conservation's greatest asset."-Nash Buckingham

    "The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Freshwater Coast
    Posts
    199

    Default

    A lot of power plants in North and Central IL are suppose to be closing in the near future. This should help push some of the Canada's and Mallards South earlier. Not sure if it is the same case in other states.
    Last edited by TeamCoorsLight; 04-27-2017 at 05:33 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    9,267

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smallwater View Post
    "Barbara J. King is an anthropology professor emerita at the College of William and Mary. She often writes about the cognition, emotion and welfare of animals, and about biological anthropology, human evolution and gender issues. Barbara's new book is Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat. "

    I don't trust anything written by a person with this bio.
    $50 says that dyke drives a Prius with a "coexist" sticker.
    Last edited by marsh chicken; 04-27-2017 at 08:42 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Probation
    Posts
    10,071

    Default

    Swerves for squirrels
    Quote Originally Posted by BOG View Post
    Tip:
    Although it is natural for you and seems to be out of your hands, try to suppress your natural inclination towards dumbassedness and do some research of your own.I wish you luck.
    Tekton Game Calls
    http://tektongamecalls.com

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    upstate, sc
    Posts
    3,286

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by smallwater View Post
    "Barbara J. King is an anthropology professor emerita at the College of William and Mary. She often writes about the cognition, emotion and welfare of animals, and about biological anthropology, human evolution and gender issues. Barbara's new book is Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat. "

    I don't trust anything written by a person with this bio.
    Hell I don't trust the person writing it either.
    \"We say grace and we say maam, if you ain\'t into that, we don\'t give a damn.\" HW Jr.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    The Wild, Wild West
    Posts
    3,490

    Default

    Well, I have not been in central Indiana long enough to troy to draw any long term conclusions based on my observations, but that does not stop the global warming "scientists," so here goes. In five years up here, we have experienced two very harsh winters...one of which was the worst on record since the 70s, one very warm winter, and two average winters. During the harsh winters, the birds were here early, and some stayed and used the rivers and creeks and warm water discharge ponds until it warmed back up; both springs showed a considerable reverse migration with tons of birds coming back through. In the two normal winters, birds pushed in and through with cold weather and spring showed an obvious, but not as large in number, reverse-migration. In the warm winter, birds were here but seemed scattered. Woodies stayed well into the season allowing for a lot of woodie breasts in the early bags, and big ducks seemed to be here in abundance all season long...just scattered. New ducks were obviously showing up during the one or two cold snaps we did have, and when spring arrived, the reverse-migration was hardly noticeable. My conclusion is that when the winters are bad up here, the birds migrate further south, and when the winters are mild, they only migrate as far as they need to. DUH! The global warming "scientists" will not think to factor increased hunting pressure and altered habitat and water availability when drawing their conclusions. While the birds may have migrated the same distances south during warm and harsh winters alike 50 years ago, the likely did so because it was ingrained, imprinted in them to do so. Why not? There was always enough food and water down south, and hunting pressure was much lower. Over years and years and generation after generation of ducks migrating south, when ducks arrive at destinations with less than favorable habitat and are getting sky busted at every body of water bigger than a mud puddle along the way, it seems pretty obvious that their habits and their imprinted behavior would be destined to change. So yes, I get it. If its warm enough not to have to fly further south where the food is less plentiful and the hunting pressure is insane, they aint going to do it...and after a 10-15 years...the habits of entire migratory species change. I think there is a biological, scientific term for this phenomena, and it is not "global warming."
    “I can’t wait ‘till I’m grown” is the stupidest @!#* I ever said!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •