Research: Bird Migrations Threatened by Climate Change
Bird migrations have stumped the greatest minds for thousands of years. Aristotle thought that the robins living in Greece in the winter somehow turned into redstarts in the summer. In fact, robins migrate from Greece to Northern Europe around the time redstarts arrive from Africa.
Scientists have gotten a much better understanding of bird migration in recent centuries, but there’s a tremendous amount they have yet to learn. After tracking more than three dozen birds with sensors for thousands of miles, a team of researchers reported on Wednesday that their migration defied the expected course.
Instead of simply flying straight from their summer grounds in Denmark to their winter site in Africa, the birds stretched out their journey, stopping at several places along the way for weeks at a time.
“It’s more of a nomadic life,” said Kasper Thorup, a bird migration expert at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the new study. “They hardly have a place to call home.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/science/on-long-migrations-birds-chase-an-eternal-spring.html?_r=0
Alan Manson