Migration of Birds (1950)Lincoln, Frederick Charles
Science
Migration of Birds (1950)
Lincoln, Frederick Charles
Birds; Birds -- Migration
Present detailed knowledge of the chief tributaries to the
Mackenzie--Great Lakes--Mississippi Valley highway relates chiefly
to waterfowl. Reference already has been made to the flight of the
black ducks (p. 58) that reach the Mississippi Valley from southern
Ontario. Some individuals of this species banded at Lake Scugog,
Ontario, have been recaptured in succeeding seasons in Wisconsin
and Manitoba, but the majority have been retaken at points south
of the junction of the Ohio River with the Mississippi, definitely
indicating their route of travel from southern Ontario.
A second route that joins the main artery on its eastern side is
the one used by the blue goose, the migration route of which is
probably more nearly due north and south than that of any other
North American bird. The breeding grounds, which only in recent
years have been discovered, are mainly in the Fox Basin region of
Baffin Island and on Southampton Island. In fall these geese work
southward, chiefly along the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, and upon
reaching the southern extremity of James Bay they take off for what
is practically a nonstop flight to the great coastal marshes of
Louisiana west of the delta of the Mississippi River. In some seasons
the flocks make intermediate stops among the islands and sand bars
of the Mississippi, as they are occasionally common in the general
vicinity of Memphis, Tenn. Most of the birds push on, however, and
during the period from the first of November to the last of March
fully 90 percent of the species are concentrated in the area between
the Sabine and the Mississippi Rivers. On the return trip northward
there is sometimes a tendency for some of the blue geese to veer off
toward the northwest, as they are occasionally abundant in eastern
South Dakota and southeastern Manitoba. It is of particular interest
to note that while some other geese and many ducks start their
northward journey at the first sign of awakening spring, the blue
goose remains in its winter quarters until the season there is far
advanced, seemingly aware that its own breeding grounds in the Arctic
are still in the grip of winter.
=Great Plains--Rocky Mountain routes=
A great western highway also has its origin in the Mackenzie River
delta area and in Alaska. This is used chiefly by the pintail and the
American widgeon or baldpate, which fly southward through eastern
Alberta to western Montana. Some localities in this area, as for
example, the National Bison Range at Moiese, Mont., normally furnish
food in such abundance as to induce these birds to pause in their
migratory movement. Upon resuming travel, some flocks move almost
directly west across Idaho to the valley of the Columbia River, from
which they turn abruptly south to the interior valleys of California.
Others leave the Montana feeding and resting areas and turn
southeastward across Wyoming and Colorado to join the flocks that are
moving southward through the Great Plains (fig. 15).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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