For those of us following the BTO satellite tagged Cuckoos, we can see Spring is well on its way – three birds have already left their winter locations in the Congo rainforest and are at their stopover sites in West Africa.
Later this month, rested and loaded with the fat that will fuel their journeys, they will head north across the Sahara. Fingers crossed for good weather and a safe flight.
While advances in biologging have revealed many spectacular animal migrations, it remains poorly understood how young animals learn to migrate. Even in social species, it is unclear how migratory skills are transmitted from one generation to another and what implications this may have. Here we show that in Caspian terns Hydroprogne caspia family groups, genetic and foster…
http://www.2physics.com/2012/10/avian-compass-reloaded.html Please find this interesting piece entitled The Avian Compass Reloaded by Dagomir Kaszlikowski at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, Department of Physics, National University of Singapore. Kaszlikowski talks about the the quantum effect that is required to enable the Cryptochromes in the eye of the European Robin to be sensitive to the earth’s magnetic field….
Useful links wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/swallow.asp Below is the of the swallow migration map: www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/autumnwatch/2009/11/lates… We, in Europe, measure the beginning of Spring by the arrival of the swallows. Many swallows make a 6,000 mile journey from Europe to winter in South Africa and back. I believe, that the way that swallows make this migration is by…
Alaska Bird Makes Longest Nonstop Flight Ever Measured USGS Alaska Science Center Bar–tailed Godwit Updates
Please note that the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) carry out a brilliant Cuckoo tracking project. We think that we need to be sure that we are clear how fledglings make the journey to their wintering grounds. As they have never been there before, how do they know how to get there? If any of…
Nature’s Radar a paper by Tristan Gooley (one of our heroes) published in the Journal of Navigation in October 2012. Tristan and a friend set out in a little boat to navigate from Kirkwall on the North of Ockney via the Faroes over the top of Iceland to Reykjavik. Please see http://www.naturalnavigator.com/nature’s_radar.pdf for the full paper. The…