MIGRATION- REMARKABLE FACTS
A ruby throated
hummingbird, that weighs 3
grams, can cross the Gulf of
Mexico non-stop in 24-26
hours.
MIGRATION- REMARKABLE FACTS
Bar-headed geese cross the Himalaya
Mountains traveling as high as 28,000 feet.
MIGRATION-REMARKABLE FACTS
It takes the blackpoll warbler 80 to 90 hours to
migrate nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean to South
America. This is equivalent to a human running a 4
minute mile nonstop for 80 hours.
MIGRATION-REMARKABLE FACTS
The Arctic tern flies from the Arctic to the
Antarctic and back, a total of 49,700 miles for
the round trip. In its lifetime, an individual will
fly 1.5 million miles or the equivalent to 60
trips around earth or 3 trips to the moon.
PREPARATION FOR MIGRATION
1. Hyperphagia is the term that refers to the massive
intake of calories resulting in the build up of fat. Prior
to migration, birds can increase their body fat by 40 to
100%. Some can increase their body fat at the rate of
10% a day. 40% body fat fuels them for around 100
hours and 1,500 miles.
MIGRATION PREPARATION
Just prior to migration, birds go through
a period of hyperactivity known as
migration restlessness, in which they
stop feeding.
PHYSIOLOGY OF MIGRATION
2. The organizing of internal
organs involves the heart and
flight muscles growing while
the digestive system shrinks.
Some birds will reabsorb their
digestive system if they use up
their fat and muscle.
MIGRATION
4.For orientation, departure,
and navigation, birds use visual
marks, the position of the sun
and stars, geomagnetism to
start and complete their
migration.
MIGRATION
 Birds use their sun compass, an internal clock which
indicates the position of the sun in relationship to
time. This is innate.
 Birds use their star compass for night orienting and
fixing on constellations. This is NOT genetic but a
learned behavior.
 Internally, a bird’s head contains magnetite (Fe O4)
crystals that allow them to “see” the earth’s
magnetic field.
MIGRATION
5.It is the hypothalmus of a
bird’s brain that initiates
appetite, while stimulation of
the pineal gland causes
migration restlessness.
HUMAN OBSTACLES TO MIGRATION
 Loss of stop over habitat-This is
why rivers like the San Pedro are
so important to migrating birds.
 Wind turbines account for bird
deaths ranging from 10,00040,0000 per year.
HUMAN OBSTACLES TO MIGRATION
Tall glass windowed buildings
result in bird deaths ranging from
100 million to 1 billion per year.
Power lines and power poles
account for 130-174 million bird
deaths annually.
HUMAN OBSTACLES TO MIGRATION
CATS –Kill over 500
million birds per year
in North America
alone!!!
HUMAN OBSTACLES TO MIGRATION
 On a global scale, over 5 billion pounds of conventional pesticides
are used annually.
 20% or 1.2 billion pounds are used annually in the United States.
 Roughly 672 million birds are exposed annually to pesticides on U.
S. agricultural lands, 10%- or 67 million –are killed.
SWAINSON’S HAWK + PESTICIDES
In 1995, the pesticide
monocrotophos, sprayed to
kill grasshoppers, was
responsible for the deaths
of at least 20,000 Swainson’s
Hawks in Argentina.