Bird Migration Facts - Dialogue for Kids (Idaho Public Television)
Incredible eyes and ears , bird song , bird          feet , and nests .          Investigate birds ...
How            are birds classified?
In order for scientists to be able to understand each other no matter            what language they speak they have an international way of naming living            organisms. The scientific names are written in a language called Latin.
      This system of classification was established            by Carl            Linneaus in the 1750's when he described many North American birds. Learn more about the science of naming things, "Taxonomy".
Explore the Tree of            Life from the University of Arizona.
This        is how birds are classified:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata ( meaning "with a backbone")
Class: Aves (Birds) The Class Aves is currently divided up        into 23 orders, 142 families, 2,057 genera and 9,702 species of birds
Order: There are 23 Orders of Birds in the world. For example:        Robins are members of the Order called, "Passeriformes". Eagles,        hawks and falcons belong to the "Ciconiiformes" order.
Family: A further division... read about Bird Families
Genus: A further specific grouping
Species: The basic unit of all classification. Every bird has its        own double name that includes a genus name and a species name. The Robin's        name is: Turdus        migratorius
Why        do birds migrate?
       Birds        seek out places that have warmth, food and are safe for breeding.
     
      Seasonal migration primarily happens in the        Northern-Hemisphere, because in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in the        tropics, it is always warm enough for an adequateyear -round food supply,        and there is little variation in the length of day throughout the year,        so birds have plenty of time to eat in a day. So, not all birds migrate.
      During the long days of the northern summer,        birds have more hours to feed their young on the abundant insect population.        As the days shorten in the north in autumn and food supplies become scarce,        the birds migrate south.
There          are 4 kinds of migrating birds: (http://www.backyardnature.net/birdmgrt.htm)
Permanent residents,          are non-migrating birds who remain in their home area all year round.
Summer residents are migratory birds move north in the spring,          nest during the summer, and return south in the fall.
Winter residents are migratory birds who fly south for the winter.
Transients are migratory species who nest farther north than our neighborhoods,          but who winter farther south.We only see transients as they are passing          through.
When              do birds migrate?
     Each species migrates at a certain time            of year and time of day. Some are very irregular in their migration            patterns.
     
      Some species start their migration south            in early July and some don't migrate until the weather gets too harsh            or the food becomes unavailable later in the fall. Experiments show            that day length stimulates migration. In the Spring, you might see migrating            birds as early as January in Florida!
    
 
Most              birds fly by night in small flocks. This allows them to eat during              the day, and avoid some predators.
How do they keep going?
     Some birds eat along thie route, but some            birds eat more just before migration and store a special, high-energy            fat in their body because some might not eat for several weeks as they            migrate.
Where            do birds go?
     Many          species migrate very long distances. The most common pattern is that birds          migrate to the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere to breed in the          summer and migrate south to warmer regions, for the winter. often in the          tropics or the temperate zones of the southern hemisphere.
Flyways
     There are 4 main Flyways ,            or routes, in North America that most migratory birds follow between            their summer and winter residences.
     They follow certain established migratory          routes and pass through at predictable times. These routes tend to avoid          land forms that might block their way, such as mountains, or water.
     
For soaring            birds , such as ospreys, eagles, vultures, and hawks these routes            follow paths that take them by hot air rising from land that they need            to soar. By spiralling up a thermal and gliding down to the next one,            they save energy needed for long journeys.
The Arctic Tern has the longest known migration route. It flies about 22,000        miles each year between its breeding grounds in the high Arctic and its        winter grounds in the Antarctic.
How do birds find their way?
      Navigation is complicated because it requires          three things: birds must know their current location, their destination          and the direction they must take to get there.
      Some          birds use the sun, the stars to navigate. Some also use the sighting of landmarks like rivers, mountains or coastlines.          Some might use smell, while some might follow other birds in the flock.
Some even monitor the Earth's magnetic field using their visual system          and with tiny grains of a iron-containing mineral called magnetite in          their heads, that might act like a compass.
Not all is known about how birds find their way but they probably use          more then one method.
Study navigation ...          and Orientation .
How          fast do birds fly? Speed ranges from 20 to 50 miles per hour.          Larger birds fly faster than smaller birds. If the flock flies for 10          hours a day, then they could fly about 400 miles a day!!!
How high do birds fly? Radar studies          show that most flight occurs at less than 10,000 ft, but some have been          recorded flying at 27,000 ft!! Birds on long-distance migrations fly at          higher altitudes than short-distance migrants.
What            are the dangers of migration?
     Sometimes          birds must fly across harsh habitats such as deserts, where there is little          water, or oceans, where there is no place to land and little food to eat.          Sometimes stormy weather may make the trip difficult. There can be many predators along          the migration route.
How          do ornithologists study birds and migration?
      Bird          banding or ringing is one method used to study wild birds. Scientists          attach a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring to a bird's          legs or wings. They also use mist nests as a way to capture birds. This          way they can capture and re-capture the same individual and measure and          weigh it and gather other important information .
Here are excellent          photos of that process.
     Sometimes          scientists use satellite tracking for follow birds on their migration          routes.
Birdwatching          is the second largest hobby (gardening is the first) in North America          with over 31 million participants. Start watching here... Internet          Bird Collection , an on-line audiovisual library of footage of the          world's birds.
Study bird behavior in your own backyard...
Develop          your bird watching skills with the Directory of Bird Watching Clubs in Idaho .
Head to another Dialogue for Kids topic and become familiar with Birds        of Prey.
Take a peek at a career as an ornithologist.