Posted on 03/21/2021 10:03:00 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
They wander the world, sleep on the wing and perform astonishing feats of endurance.
We humans had until recently become inured to losing track of breeding birds for the duration of their migratory journeys, which we now know can span tens of thousands of miles. When a white stork turned up in Klütz, Germany, in the spring of 1822 with an arrow from Africa dangling from its neck, an awakening began that migratory birds are up to something much bigger than suspected.
Solar-powered transmitters using cellular networks can now record a bird’s latitude, longitude and altitude at 30-second intervals.
In 2004, a tracking device revealed that a gray-headed albatross maintained an average flight speed of 78.9 mph for eight hours as it soared, rigid-winged, homeward on the wind with a gullet full of food for its chick. Trackers have revealed common swifts never touching earth—sleeping on the wing—for a documented 10-month period.
...prothonotary warblers, tracked from across their wide range in the U.S., almost all converge on one small area along Colombia’s Magdalena River for the winter. If that forest is logged, what becomes of the birds?
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The unseen beauty of migratory birds! Now seen with GPS, solar power, cell links... Fascinating stuff!
Full article for non-subscribers:
https://archive.vn/AwQrx
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
More proof evolution is a myth. How would these birds live long enough to evolve these mysteries without God’s design?
There is a lot we still don’t know about nature.
I was driving on a freeway and happened to look up at a very large formation of birds. I think they were Starlings.
They created a pin pointed kaleidoscope in the sky for a few moments.
This was just before Sundown, so they had a daily ritual to perform before heading someplace for the night.
Gorgeous, mysterious and entertaining.
Think of all the levels of communication that must be going on so they don’t run into each other. So that they create an agreed upon design.
Thanks so much for sharing the link.
And they mess up the paint jobs on our beautiful windmills! J/k
Birds are cool creatures. Been watching ng shows on their amazing feats. Quite interesting.
African or European?
Love watching flocks of birds “dancing in the wind” as they all turn I. Unison, flashes of silver and white as their feathers catch the sun. It s amazing how they all fly with such precision, all move at the same time. So cool
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Not the Europeeing one, they are lighter. Therefore faster.
Here in Southern Alabama, turkey vultures from up North overwinter and are seen daily soaring and wheeling against the sky, along with black vultures.
They’re easy to tell apart. Black vultures have an under-wing “hand” of lighter feathers and turkey vultures have a full wing edge of lighter feathers underneath. Turkey vultures are bigger with a more narrow, longer wingspan. Also they have red heads while black vulture heads are grey.
Now the black vultures don’t migrate as far North as the turkey vultures. I’ve just noticed a bunch of black vultures in the sky and only one turkey vulture.
The turkey vultures must be on the move North.
Spring is here, y’all!
“The article is a book review of”FLIGHTS OF PASSAGE” By Mike Unwin and David Tipling, and “A WORLD ON THE WING” By Scott Weidensaul
The unseen beauty of migratory birds! Now seen with GPS, solar power, cell links... Fascinating stuff! “
Thanks!
Full article here:
https://archive.vn/AwQrx
Saw this video years ago, and it’s still pretty cool.
“Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.
I sent the music to the photographer, Paulo Pinto, who I Googled on the internet. He told his editor, who told a reporter and the story ended up as an interview in the very same newspaper.
Here I’ve posted a short video made with the photo, the music and the score (composed by the birds).”
A murmuration of starlings.
Etymology. 1350-1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”). The “starling” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.
Flight of the Starlings: Watch This Eerie but Beautiful Phenomenon | Short Film Showcase 2min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4f_1_r80RY
Well, the African Swallow is non-migratory, so.... I believe the subject at hand is migratory birds.
Flight of the Starlings: Watch This Eerie but Beautiful Phenomenon | Short Film Showcase 2 min.
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