"Scientists had long suspected that the blackpoll warbler had made its journey to the Caribbean over the ocean, but the study that began in the summer of 2013 when scientists attached tracking devices to the birds was the first time that the flight has been proven, according to results published Wednesday in the United Kingdom in the journal Biology Letters.
"'It is such a spectacular, astounding feat that this half-an-ounce bird can make what is obviously a perilous, highly risky journey over the open ocean,' said Chris Rimmer of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, one of the authors."
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/tiny-songbird-tracked-across-1700-miles-of-open-ocean/2015/03/31/5f27b03c-d7fb-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488_story.html
1,700 miles nonstop. How do they do it?
For those who don't know, Blackpoll Warblers do pass through Wisconsin. keep an eye out for them starting the second week of May till June.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, migration is perhaps the most mysterious trait of birds. While the Blackpoll migration is quite impressive, other species are just as so... A Semipalmated Sandpiper was tracked on a 6 day nonstop flight from James Bay Canada to South America, a journey of 3,300 miles! B-95(aka Moonbird),a famous 20 year old Rsd Knot makes biyearly journeys from northern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America.
It just amazes ne....
"A Semipalmated Sandpiper was tracked on a 6 day nonstop flight from James Bay Canada to South America, a journey of 3,300 miles!"
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed. How do they flap their wings for 6 days straight?