After a blistering summer, the weather has finally turned cooler and there is a palatable crispness to the air. I am even noticing some of the Sugar Maples and Sumacs in the woods turning color. All of the acorns have fallen and the edible wild berries of summer have all been gleaned from the bushes and trees. Autumn migration is well underway with many groups of bird such as the flycatchers and warblers have already left.
Bird migration is a fascinating and wonderful natural phenomena. I spend a lot of time studying and thinking about migration. After all, we don’t even understand the basics aspects of migration. Yet migration is so common that most people take it completely for granted. Birds leave in autumn and come back in spring. No big deal–right? I disagree. I think it’s a huge deal. Believe it or not just 150 years ago one of the common explanations of where the birds went in fall was they turned into another kind of animal or that the birds burrowed into the mud for the winter. How else could you explain how the birds disappeared so quickly then reappeared in spring? Of course now we know that birds migrate.
Take hummingbirds for example. How does that tiny little bird fly so far. We use to believe that hummingbirds rode on the backs of geese. With just some basic knowledge you can see how preposterous that notion is. Geese really don’t migrate very far at all when compared to hummingbirds. Hummers end up in the tropics of Central and South America.
Adult male hummingbirds are the first to leave on migration. They migrate individually, not in flocks and they also migrate at night. So that means one day you will have your male hummer buzzing your feeder and the next day they will be gone. They wait for favorable wind conditions, usually winds out of the north or northwest and as the sunsets they take flight and use the stars and major land forms such as rivers to guide them on their way south. When the sun comes up they land and get some rest and more importantly find some food. This is why it’s important to leave your feeders up, even if your local hummers are gone.
Next the female hummers migrate leaving behind the young hummers that were born this past spring. Last to go are the juvenile birds. How they know where to go is a complete mystery. But obviously they do know where to go. Try to imagine yourself taking off by yourself knowing only that you have to clear out because winter is coming and your food supply is dwindling. Now you have to find your way to Central or South America traveling thousands of miles across terrain that you have never seen before. The dangers and pitfalls along the way are innumerable. Good luck!
Our beloved Baltimore Orioles are also gone now along with the colorful Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. These birds are here for a short three or four months during summer. While here they breed and raise a family. Shortly after that they pack up and head south. By the way, these birds don’t breed again when they get back to the tropics. They come all the way here to have their families. That is an interesting notion, isn’t it?
I often think about the birds that don’t migrate such as the woodpeckers. These birds have a completely different strategies for survival. They put on more feathers for added warmth and keep their toes crossed that they will find enough food to get them through a long cold winter. Again this seems simple enough but when you actually stop and think about it, it is amazing. Try to imagine yourself spending every night outside all winter long and you can begin to see what I mean. Every minute of the short winter days are spent finding food to replenish fat supplies which is your only way to survive another long winter night. Each and every day is a struggle for life. And you thought winter was depressing enough. Try being a bird that doesn’t migrate.
So at this time of year I spend a lot of time thinking about and marveling at the birds. I hope you take the time out of your busy day to ponder migration or the lack of migration. Until next time…
Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com