The Science Mouse

Sandhill Cranes migrating over central Nebraska. Photo by Dana Hanley

Where do birds go in the winter?  This question has been asked by a lot of people for a very, very long time.  The poet Homer was one of the first people to write about bird migration over 3000 years ago.  Aristotle wrote about cranes and how they traveled from the steppes of Scythia to the source of the Nile.  Even the bible mentions bird migration.

Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretches his wings toward the south?  –Job 39:26

Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons; and the turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration; but my people do not know the ordinance of the LORD. –Jeremiah 8:7

Other people had some funny ideas about what happened to the birds each winter.

In The History of Animals (350 B.C.), Aristotle writes:

The cuckoo is said by some to be a hawk transformed, because at the time of the cuckoo’s coming, the hawk, which it resembles, is never seen and indeed it is only for a few days that you will see hawks about when the cuckoo’s note sounds early in the season.

Some also thought that the European robin turned into a redstart and that other birds also transformed.  It seems impossible to us, but to the ancient Greeks it was like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

A 16th century woodblock appearing in Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus' "History and Nature of the Northern Peoples"

Europeans in the Middle Ages thought that swallows went under the water and hibernated in the mud.  They thought that because the swallows kept diving at the water to drink.  Aristotle also wrote about the possibility of other birds hibernating in hollow trees and other hiding places.

In 1703, an Englishman wrote that birds went to the moon!  He thought it took them 60 days and that they hibernated there.

Some naturalists thought that only big birds were capable of making a long migration journey.  They thought that little birds hitchhiked on their backs!  Some people still believe this  today.

An early example of a bird band, courtesy http://wikipedia.org

In order to find out where birds really go, they band them.  Today the band is a metal ring around the bird’s leg with a number and who to contact if the bird is found. This helps scientists learn more about where birds go.  It shows how far they go and sometimes even how fast they get there.  Over time, scientists can also learn about changes in bird populations.

Henry IV was the first person that we know put a metal band around a bird’s leg.  It was on one of his Peregrine Falcons and it got lost in France.  The Falcon was found 24 hours later 1350 miles away.  It had averaged 56 miles per hour.

John James Audubon, a famous American naturalist and painter, was the first person to band a bird in North America.  In 1803, he tied a string to the legs of baby phoebes nesting in Philadelphia.  A year later, he was able to identify two of the nestlings when they came back to the very same neighborhood.

Dianne from Bunny Trails went to a bird banding event with her family last year and shared pictures on her blog.    I would like to go to a bird banding event someday.  I think bird banding is an interesting way to study birds.