BIRD MIGRATION

A
Birds have many unique design features that enable them to perform such amazing feats of
endurance. They are equipped with lightweight, hollow bones, intricately designed feathers
providing both lift and thrust for rapid flight, navigation systems superior to any that man has
developed, and an ingenious heat conserving design that, among other things, concentrates all
blood circulation beneath layers of warm, waterproof plumage, leaving them fit to face life in the
harshest of climates. Their respiratory systems have to perform efficiently during sustained
flights at altitude, so they have a system of extracting oxygen from their lungs that far exceeds
that of any other animal. During the later stages of the summer breeding season, when food is
plentiful, their bodies are able to accumulate considerable layers of fat, in order to provide
sufficient energy for their long migratory flights.
B
The fundamental reason that birds migrate is to find adequate food during the winter months
when it is in short supply. This particularly applies to birds that breed in the temperature and
Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, where food is abundant during the short growing
season. Many species can tolerate cold temperatures if food is plentiful, but when food is not
available they must migrate. However, intriguing questions remain.
C
One puzzling fact is that many birds journey much further than would be necessary just to find
food and good weather. Nobody knows, for instance, why British swallows, which could
presumably survive equally well if they spent the winter in equatorial Africa, instead fly several
thousands of miles further to their preferred winter home in South Africa Cape Province.
Another mystery involves the huge migrations performed by arctic terns and mudflat-feeding
shorebirds that breed close to Polar Regions. In general, the further north a migrant species
breeds, the further south it spends the winter. For arctic terns this necessitates an annual round
trip of 25,000 miles. Yet, an route to their final destination in far-flung southern latitudes, all
these individuals overfly other areas of seemingly suitable habitat spanning two hemispheres.
While we may not fully understand birds' reasons for going to particular places, we can marvel at
their feats.
D
One of the greatest mysteries is how young birds know how to find the traditional wintering
areas without parental guidance. Very few adults migrate with juveniles in tow, and youngsters
may even have little or no inkling of their parents' appearance. A familiar example is that of the
cuckoo, which lays its eggs in another species' nest and never encounters its young again. It is
mind boggling to consider that, once raised by its host species, the young cuckoo makes it own
way to ancestral wintering grounds in the tropics before returning single-handedly to northern
Europe the next season to seek out a mate among its own kind. The obvious implication is that it
inherits from its parents an inbuilt route map and direction-finding capability, as well as a mental
image of what another cuckoo looks like. Yet nobody has the slightest idea as to how this is
possible.
E
Mounting evidence has confirmed that birds use the positions of the sun and stars to obtain
compass directions. They seem also to be able to detect the earth's magnetic field, probably due
to having minute crystals of magnetite in the region of their brains. However, true navigation
also requires an awareness of position and time, especially when lost. Experiments have shown
that after being taken thousands of miles over an unfamiliar landmass, birds are still capable of
returning rapidly to nest sites. Such phenomenal powers are the product of computing a number
of sophisticated cues, including an inborn map of the night sky and the pull of the earth's
magnetic field. How the birds use their 'instruments' remains unknown, but one thing is clear:
they see the world with a superior sensory perception to ours. Most small birds migrate at night
and take their direction from the position of the setting sun. However, as well as seeing the sun
go down, they also seem to see the plane of polarized light caused by it, which calibrates their
compass. Traveling at night provides other benefits. Daytime predators are avoided and the
danger of dehydration due to flying for long periods in warm, sunlit skies is reduced.
Furthermore, at night the air is generally cool and less turbulent and so conducive to sustained,
stable flight.
F
Nevertheless, all journeys involve considerable risk, and part of the skill in arriving safely is
setting off at the right time. This means accurate weather forecasting, and utilizing favorable
winds. Birds are adept at both, and, in laboratory tests, some have been shown to detect the
minute difference in barometric pressure between the floor and ceiling of a room. Often birds
react to weather changes before there is any visible sign of them. Lapwings, which feed on
grassland, flee west from the Netherlands to the British Isles, France and Spain at the onset of a
cold snap. When the ground surface freezes the birds could starve. Yet they return to Holland
ahead of a thaw, their arrival linked to a pressure change presaging an improvement in the
weather.
G
In one instance a Welsh Manx shearwater carried to America and release was back in its burrow
on Skokholm Island, off the Pembrokeshire coast, one day before a letter announcing its release!
Conversely, each autumn a small number of North American birds are blown across the Atlantic
by fast-moving westerly tail winds. Not only do they arrive safely in Europe, but, based on
ringing evidence, some make it back to North America the following spring, after probably
spending the winter with European migrants in sunny African climes. Standard leads to much
less searching and inspection of alternatives than the maximizer's "best" standard. With fewer
choices under consideration, a person will have fewer opportunity costs to subtract.