News, Videos & Other Webcams > Birds in the News
News: Songbirds, Swifts & Hummingbirds
irenekl:
Thanks for posting that bcbird. I got all excited and then got too busy to go search the cbc website. :-[
Kinderchick:
Yes! Very interesting program with lots of info about birds and wildlife, in general.
bcbird:
--- Quote from: irenekl on March 06, 2012, 11:46 ---I was listening to a bird segment on CBC Radio Quirks & Quarks on the wknd... I've learned alot about birds from this program. For whatever reason they often discuss birds. Gotta love that CBC radio!
--- End quote ---
I think I found the Quirks and Quarks summary of the program you heard Irenekl. I love the variety of information presented on Q&Q.
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/
Marathon Migration
Northern Wheatear - copyright Ómar Runólfsson
The Northern Wheatear is a small (25g) songbird that lives in two main groups; one in the eastern Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Eurasia; the other in Alaska. Although its winter migration destination was suspected, it was only proven recently. Using tiny geo-locaters strapped to the birds like back-packs, Dr. Ryan Norris, an Assistant Professor from the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph, was able to track what turns out to be an astonishing route. The birds in the eastern Arctic group migrate across the Atlantic, then south to the west side of sub-Sahara Africa. An incredible 3,500kms! The group from Alaska migrate through Asia to the east side of sub-Sahara Africa - 14,500kms! Both migrations involve amazing distances per day for many months, making the Wheatear's migration route the longest for a bird of its size.
irenekl:
I was listening to a bird segment on CBC Radio Quirks & Quarks on the wknd and I believe this is the same bird they discussed as having an incredible migration range. They had a backpac on it similar to the one attached to Rain & Rosser. The information gained about this tiny thing crossing the ocean was so amazing I could hardly believe what I was hearing. So fascinating! I will go back online to see if I can find this segment and share it here. I've learned alot about birds from this program. For whatever reason they often discuss birds. Gotta love that CBC radio!
The Peregrine Chick:
Nothern Wheatear - Migration Sensation!
This little bird seems to have taken over the record for migratory dominance!! They are small songbirds - larger than a European robin but smaller than a North American one (Wikipedia). This bird nests in the Arctic, frequently raising two families before migrating south. Now this species is not indigenous to North America rather their breeding range has expanded into northern Canada from the east and from Russia through Alaska in the west. Why is this important? Because the birds' migratory destination is Africa, not Central/South America! But no one knew what they did exactly until they put tiny transmitters on them and then tracked them over their 30,000km annual round trips. Their migrations are 1-2 months long - shorter in spring, longer in the fall.
Tiny songbird northern wheatear traverses the world - BBC News
This tiny songbird makes a non-stop 14500km migration each year from Alaska to Africa - The National Post
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