Migration of Birds (1950)Lincoln, Frederick Charles
Science
Migration of Birds (1950)
Lincoln, Frederick Charles
Birds; Birds -- Migration
These observations naturally relate only to daytime travelers, but
there is no reason to believe that nocturnal migration is performed
at higher altitudes. The fact that many birds are killed each year by
striking the lanterns at lighthouses, or other man-made obstructions,
does not, however, furnish conclusive proof that low altitudes are
generally used during nocturnal flight, for it should be recalled
that these accidents occur chiefly in foggy or unsettled weather, and
also that powerful lights have a great attraction for many species
of birds. The altitude at which birds travel is affected by other
weather conditions also. For example, flight at the higher elevations
is facilitated on clear, warm days by the currents of warm air that
ascend from broad areas.
=Orientation=
There probably is no single aspect of the entire subject of bird
migration that challenges our admiration so much as the unerring
certainty with which birds cover thousands of miles of land and
water to come to rest in exactly the same spot where they spent
the previous summer or winter. The records from birds marked with
numbered bands offer abundant proof that the same individuals of many
species will return again and again to their identical nesting sites.
These data show also that many individuals migrate in fall over
the same route, year after year, making the same stops and finally
arriving at the precise thicket that served them in previous winters.
The faculty that enables these birds to point their course accurately
over vast expanses of land and water may, for want of a better
term, be called a "sense of direction." Man recognizes this sense
in himself, though usually it is imperfect and frequently at fault.
Nevertheless the facility with which experienced hunters and woodsmen
locate tiny camps or other points in forested or mountainous country,
frequently cloaked by darkness or fog, with all recognizable
landmarks obliterated seems due to this faculty. Ability to travel
with precision over unmarked trails is not limited either to birds or
to man. It is likewise possessed by many other mammals as well as by
some insects and fishes, the well-known migrations of the salmon and
the eel being notable examples.
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