Lindsey Maschler Week 16: Why are birds migrating?
Ana Morales, a graduate student at McGill Univerisity, was exploring some bushed and scanning airwaves with a radio receiver when she picked up a signal from a Swainson’s thrush, a small brown and white spotted bird that is native to the Americas. Surprisingly, the exact same signal popped up on her receiver a few days earlier, which came from the exact same bush in Montreal. Morales was very concerned about this since it was highly unlikely that the transmitter was still attached to a live bird. Of course, she had to double-check, so she poked around the bushes and found the same bird.
Every Autumn, Swainson’s thrushes migrate from the north to central and northern South America, but some take a break and stop in cities, like Montreal, Canada. Morales did a study about how Swainson’s thrushes balance the need to quickly migrate, and they caught a total of almost 80 birds that were radio tagged.
Every bird stops in cities during its migration for different reasons. Some are attracted by the cities lights, but for the Swainson’s thrush, it is because of the berries they offer. However, cities are not friendly to other birds migrating, with the death toll on migrating birds is increasing because they just simply do not know the city. Because of this, Morales and her colleagues found that Swainson’s thrushes make stops in Montreal, where they molt to prepare them for the migration. Birds are also attracted to artificial light since they use starlight to guide them, and it is naturally enticed by points of light. Artificial light is very dangerous to birds because they are not used to it, which leads to billions of birds dying each year.
The article then proceeds to say that a beneficial way to keep birds safe is to turn lights off in big cities. Last year, a study was published that estimated that by turning out half of the lights on McCormack Place in the spring and autumn, bird mortality could be reduced by nearly 60%. Especially now, birds are dying more than ever, and humans, in general, need to be more aware of the environment. How do you think we can help the bird migration?
I don't really believe there is much we can do to help birds with migration. I believe that after a while, they will adapt more to their surroundings. Hundreds of years ago, we had no technology or electricity, and birds were able to migrate back then. They have been able to adapt over time, and I believe that they will still be able to. However, I am not a scientists or an expert.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not believe that there is a simple individual solution to help birds migrate, I think that as a society we can be more conscious of the animals in the world around us. We need to take care of the environment and other life forms besides us. If we do not, entire ecosystem and the Earth as we know it could be damaged and changed indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteI think that we need to be respectful of nature and not interfere with it, so I agree, we should turn off artificial lights to assist the birds. I think that it is so upsetting that birds are dying and I hope that people will do everything we can to help and save them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is much we can do. There is no way that we as a society are going to turn off enough lights to impact this. Though it is sad, I feel like it will improve overtime.
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