This is interesting, from a National Geographic press release:
TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2009 – A York University researcher has tracked the migration of songbirds by outfitting them with tiny geolocator backpacks – a world first – revealing that scientists have underestimated their flight performance dramatically.
“Never before has anyone been able to track songbirds for their entire migratory trip,” said study author Bridget Stutchbury, a professor of biology in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering. “We’re excited to achieve this scientific first.” Songbirds, the most common type of bird in our skies, are too small for conventional satellite tracking.
Stutchbury and her team mounted miniaturized geolocators on 14 wood thrushes and 20 purple martins, breeding in Pennsylvania during 2007, tracking the birds’ fall takeoff, migration to South America, and journey back to North America. In the summer of 2008, they retrieved the geolocators from five wood thrushes and two purple martins and reconstructed individual migration routes and wintering locations.
Data from the geolocators indicated that songbirds can fly in excess of 500 km (311 miles) per day, reports Stutchbury in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Science. Previous studies estimated their flight performance at roughly 150 km (93 miles) per day.
The study, funded in part by the National Geographic Society, found that songbirds’ overall migration rate was two to six times more rapid in spring than in fall. For example, one purple martin took 43 days to reach Brazil during fall migration, but in spring returned to its breeding colony in only 13 days. Rapid long-distance movement occurred in both species, said Stutchbury.
“We were flabbergasted by the birds’ spring return times. To have a bird leave Brazil on April 12 and be home by the end of the month was just astounding. We always assumed they left sometime in March,” she said.
Researchers also found that prolonged stopovers were common during fall migration. The purple martins, which are members of the swallow family, had a stopover of three to four weeks in the Yucatan before continuing to Brazil. Four wood thrushes spent one to two weeks in the southeastern United States in late October, before crossing the Gulf of Mexico, and two other individuals stopped on the Yucatan Peninsula for two to four weeks before continuing migration.
The geolocators, which are smaller than a dime, detect light, allowing researchers to estimate birds’ latitude and longitude by recording sunrise and sunset times. The devices are mounted on birds’ backs by looping thin straps around their legs. The weight of the geolocator rests at the base of the bird’s spine, so as not to interfere with its balance.
Stutchbury credits researchers with the British Antarctic Survey for miniaturizing the geolocators. “They hadn’t really been thinking of [attaching them to] songbirds, but when I saw the technology, I knew we could do this,” she said.
The study also uncovered evidence that wood thrushes from a single breeding population did not scatter over their tropical wintering grounds. All five wood thrushes wintered in a narrow band in eastern Honduras or Nicaragua.
“This region is clearly important for the overall conservation of wood thrushes, a species that has declined by 30 percent since 1966,” said Stutchbury. “Songbird populations have been declining around the world for 30 or 40 years, so there is a lot of concern about them.”
She emphasized the importance of this research not only to protect at-risk species of songbirds, but also to gauge environmental concerns.
“Tracking birds to their wintering areas is also essential for predicting the impact of tropical habitat loss and climate change,” she said. “Until now, our hands have been tied in many ways, because we didn’t know where the birds were going. They would just disappear and then come back in the spring. It’s wonderful to now have a window into their journey.”
The study, “Tracking long-distance songbird migration using geolocators,” was co-authored by Tyler Done, Elizabeth Gow and Patrick Kramer (York University graduate students), John Tautin (Purple Martin Conservation Association), and James Fox and Vsevolod Afanasyev (British Antarctic Survey).
I have a cousin in law who tells this story: Her youngest child found out about sex. Then he made the connection that if he existed, his parents must have had sex. So he confronted the parents with this, and mom was forced to admit, yes, of course, this is how babies get “made” and this is simply how things are. The child did not seem too concerned.
In Genesis 4, we see specific reference to herdsmen and farmers as distinct groups, represented by Abel and Cain, respectively. God indicates a preference for the results of herding over planting, and the sibling troubles that ensue result in the world becoming a difficult place to farm, and humans becoming more nomadic, as herders. This is interesting, because it seems like a dramatic shift from reference to irrigation agriculture to herding. Given the usual role of origin stories, we may be seeing a layering of blame in this case. If this is the origin story of cattle keeping nomadic pastoral people, one has to explain the distinction from farming, and if possible, develop a disdain for the practice of farming, typical at least in Africa of herding cultures.
The Minnesota Atheists have reached an important milestone. The new elections today will mark the changeover from the founding members who will be leaving the board but remaining active, and turning over in democratic fashion the leadership to new and enthusiastic talent. The Minnesota Atheists goal was to create an organization which fosters and encourages growth and new ideas, and it shows in our achievements.
“Atheists Talk” airs live on AM 950 KTNF in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
) on disease and politics and continuting through Gina Kolata’s 
there has been increased attention on the 1918 flu virus and pandemic, as well as subsequent outbreaks. This interest has probably been fueled by increased knowledge of (or incidence of?) tragic and highly newsworthy outbreaks of Ebola, SARS, and so on. More recently, the perception has grown that the Bird Flu is a’comin’ any time now to ultimately replace the Great Pandemic of 1918 as well as the mud shark in our mythology.