Migration

Ducks Fly Together!

What is migration? Regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway between breeding and wintering grounds

What is a flyway? Flight path used in bird migration North America has 4 Pacific Central Mississippi Atlantic

Why North and South? Gets cold up North during winter Go where the resources are

Patterns on the trip Migration tends to follow clockwise rotation Birds flying North stay Westward and birds flying South stay Eastward

The big 3 Allen, KG, Pierce

The big 3 Bosh, James, Wade

The big 3 Food, water, shelter

What do they eat? Typically eat green vegetation as well as grains such as wheat, rice, and corn Many winter in southern rice paddies Farmers like it because they are good pest control and fertilizer

Why fly in the V formations? Reduce energy by 12-20% Can fly 5km/hr faster Share the burden of leading When tired, go to the back If one goose gets hurt, 2 drop out with it until it dies or recovers

Communicating on the move 13 different calls that mean a variety of things Greeting, warning, encouragement, and directions

How do they know when to leave? First studied in 1795 Shortening of days causes hormonal changes Restlessness and storage of fat Even caged birds exhibit this behavior Also adjust flight patterns within their enclosures

Navigating How do they navigate? They use the sun as a compass Use stars at night Landmarks like rivers, mountains, etc. Magnetic field strength changes as latitude changes Strength of magnetic field

Coming home They often return to the same wintering and breeding grounds every fall/spring Have surprisingly good memories.

Learning the Routes Geese learn where to go from older geese Older geese are better at making adjustments to wind drift

What about the hurt? If one goose gets hurt, 2 others follow it down. Stay with it until it dies or recovers Catch back up or join new formation

What about the endangered? Humans teach to fly with light aircraft Show safe migration routes Process used for reintroduction of species Will know the way after one migration

Sleeping on the fly Sleep with one eye open Half the brain shuts off Why do we even need sleep?

Lung power

Human tracking of migrations

Banding http://www.flyways.us

Why’s tracking important