I have always wondered about the reasons why birds migrate. Okay, everyone wants to escape from cold places, but these birds have a certain systematic. They do not randomly look. We present you the scientific research on Bird Migration
Birds are vertebrates that have the ability to fly. No other vertebrate species can fly. Birds cannot feed if the region they are in is cold and snowy in the winter months. However, it is wrong to explain this migration movement in such a simple way. Bird migration includes many reasons.
How birds make the decision to migrate has been studied by many scientists. Some scientists explained that birds migrate together with seasonal conditions. Some based it on the search for food accordingly. However, experiments have been conducted to refute this view.
According to an experiment;
In this experiment, garden nightingales were taken to a laboratory environment. However, seasonal conditions were changed. In other words, while a cold winter season was experienced outside, a warm spring weather was created in the indoor environment where the bird lived. Birds adapted their bodies to the indoor weather conditions. Birds have adjusted themselves according to the artificial season. They have stored fat in their bodies. In other words, they have made all kinds of preparations to migrate. However, when it came time to migrate, they took the outside season into consideration. In other words, the season inside did not affect the timing of the migration movement. With this experiment, the statement made by some researchers that “birds migrate according to seasonal conditions” is not supported.
The migration of birds brings many questions to our minds. For example; there is no protection for animals in these long-distance migrations. And there is nothing helpful that they take with them. The migration event reveals many skills of birds. The migration event reveals the characteristics of birds in finding their way, feeding and flying for long periods.
As we have explained above, many studies have been conducted on why birds migrate and how they determine the time of migration. Scientists say that birds have a biological clock. Birds migrate in accordance with this internal clock. Another interesting event that occurs during the migration of birds is that they start the migration together. Even if they do not live together, they gather in a region when the time comes for migration. Thus, birds start their migration movement with perfect timing. This migration event can be expressed as the flawless application of planned movements by birds.
It is not an easy task for birds to fly such long distances. Birds have a hard time in this migration event. Migratory birds spend a lot of energy because they fly for a long time. Hummingbirds flap their wings approximately 1200 times per minute. When we consider the migration movement of birds, which sometimes lasts for days, the amount of energy spent will be better visualized. Birds that spend so much energy can sometimes be defeated during migration and may be in danger of fainting.
If we explain the flight technique of birds during this migration;
Birds already have the ability to make difficult flights by their structure. However, they benefit from some factors in these flights. For example, they correctly benefit from the wind in the air.
Birds generally fly with the “V” technique while migrating. In other words, there are strong, large and leader birds in the front. Other birds are lined up to form the letter V. The strong birds on the pointed part of the letter V act as shields against air currents. Thanks to this, the birds at the back fly more easily.
The return of birds after migration is a different subject of study. Birds migrating to warm regions because winter is coming come back again. Many studies have been done on this. The reason why migratory birds return after a certain period of time is the warming of the northern hemisphere with spring. It is also important that the daylight hours are extended with the arrival of spring. Because birds have more time to search for food. Of course, it is a fact that the event of migratory birds returning explained in this way contains many mysteries.
