Migration Miracles

by Kathy Ross

Feathers, hollow bones, no more than air cloaked in brilliant hues. Our neotropical birds migrate at speeds up 100 mph, at elevations as high as 15,000 feet, for up to 8 hours at a stretch or some never stopping for thousands of miles.

To top off this feat, they know their way to Mexico or South American in the fall and back to North America and Canada in the spring to breed. Migratory birds hatch with a road map in their brain. They orient via the sun, or the stars, or on a cloudy day some actually read the magnetic field of the earth to find their way.

Each year we are witness to one of the most incredible miracles of the natural world and it is happening right now all around us. International Migratory Bird Day was celebrated this year on May 11, but appreciating and celebrating birds can happen 365 days of the year.

FAS has some great field trips scheduled during the month of May. Join us as we celebrate the migration miracle. The focus this year for Migratory Bird Day is on the devastating affects of plastic pollution on birds as well as our environment. Please minimize the use of all plastic but especially plastic bottles and if you need to, please recycle.