I have always been mystified by bird migration and thought one day I would look into it. That was today. Actually, I thought one day I would learn all about it. Hah! The entire Wikipedia entry is 31 pages long (if one wanted to print it). I got through a few pages.
Here are some interesting tidbits I culled for you:
Migrating birds navigate using celestial cues from the sun, stars, the earth’s magnetic field, and mental maps. [what on earth is a mental map?]
Within a species not all populations may be migratory; this is known as “partial migration.”
Specific routes may be both genetically programmed or learned, to varying degrees. The forward and return migration routes are often different.
Bird migration is not limited to birds that can fly. Most species of penguins migrate by swimming, sometimes over 550 miles. Some species (emu and dusky grouse were mentioned) migrate by walking.
In long-lived social species such as white storks, flocks are often led by the oldest members and young storks learn the route on their first journey.
Ann Billingsley: Crow. Graphite and charcoal.Anne Shields: Black-Throated Blue Warbler. Pastel.Pat Flory Stocks: Eastern Bluebird. Pastel.Judith Davis: Great Black-Backed Gull with Spider Crab. Cape Cod, 2016. Acrylic on clay board.Kathy Shollenberger: American Robin. Fiber collage with machine and hand embroidery.Tara Hamilton: Blackburnian Warblers. Watercolor. [Tara reports, “Each spring in Virginia, warblers and other neotropical songbirds travel through Virginia along the Atlantic Flyway.”]Carolyn Rondthaler: Northern Cardinal. Watercolor.Ezra P., age 9: Rosy Pelican. Colored pencil. [The rosy pelican is also known as the great white pelican or just white pelican.]Martha Larkin: Rosy Pelican. Colored pencil.Jim Eichenberger: Baby Oyster Catchers. Watercolor with a bit of tempera. [Jim notes that for these babies, “the beaks are just beginning to turn to the red-orange adult color, and the feathers have not yet turned to the mature bold black-and-white pattern.”]Tom Eichenberger: Sandhill Crane. Painted cedar, aluminum hair clip, and brass rivets.Susan Eichenberger Hazelwood: Gambel’s Quail. Colored pencil. [This is a nonmigratory species and is seldom seen in flight. It lives in the deserts of the Southwest United States, and Susan saw two or three in the back yard of a restaurant an hour from her house in Arizona.]Marian Wiseman: Short-Eared Owl. Watercolor. [In North America, there are four owl species that migrate: northern saw-whet owl, snowy owl, long-eared owl, and short-eared owl.]
Share this: New blog post from the Wednesday Studio
Oops. I didn’t realize that my comment would come up as anonymous. Let me try again. My bird is an American robin, and my name is Kathy Shollenberger, and I am so happy to have learned about this monthly show of plumage.
THE WEDNESDAY STUDIO 
These are some awfully well-drawn and painted birds. Congratulations, everyone!
-Ellen Cornett
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Where’s my warbler?
Sent from my iPad
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Oh my! Another great collection. I love those baby oyster catchers!
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These are so lovely. Just to clarify, my bird is an American robin.
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Oops. I didn’t realize that my comment would come up as anonymous. Let me try again. My bird is an American robin, and my name is Kathy Shollenberger, and I am so happy to have learned about this monthly show of plumage.
🙂
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