Migratory Birds, by Zainab Salman (club member)

What are Migratory Birds?

Migratory birds are types of birds which migrate from one place to the other due to weather changes/lack of food. Some birds migrate to nesting grounds to breed.

Migratory Birds in Pakistan.

Some species of migratory birds migrate to the subcontinent in the winters, from cold places like Siberia and Antarctica. Birds like grebe, pelican, bittern, stork, glossy ibis, spoonbill, white headed duck, swans, geese, ruddy shelducks and a list of others migrate to Pakistan’s beaches and lakes where they spend their winters.

During the Journey….

The birds which migrate are called Migratory Birds. The birds that don’t migrate are called resident birds. Migratory Birds migrate in autumn, before winters. Some also migrate twice a year. The birds go to warmer/colder places where they stay and then fly back to their home place. Before migration,birds eat a lot. They store fat so they have enough energy to fly non-stop for hours before it is time to rest and have something to eat. Birds gather together when it’s time to start off so nobody gets lost. They also travel in large flocks of birds of each specie and they travel together. Similarly, geese fly in a V formation, so they can always see their leader.

Migration is not only done by birds but animals and humans also migrate. The reason of migration for animals is the same as for birds. For Instance, Marine Animals like Grey Whale, green turtles, Monarch butterflies, salmon and trout fish are Migratory Animals.
Even though migratory birds do all this, it doesn’t mean that they can be wiser and cleverer than us, humans. It’s all part of their life, their routine, their script, that Allah (S.W.T) has written for them. Just the way we wear warm clothes and eat warm food in winters, some birds migrate. There is no reason for asking why, because that is part of their life. The process of migration is just around their basic needs, there is no rocket science.

I collected all this information from Science books, and from my own knowledge about migratory birds. This task was fun and I learnt many new things about birds while I was simply researching.

Compiled by Zainab Salman 

Club Member 

Migratory Birds, video by Saad Allahwala (club member)

This video is made by our Club member Saad Allahwalh about Migratory Birds.

Migratory Birds, presentations by Club Members

Migratory birds, by Muneeb Elahi (club member)

When many of us think about migration, the image of geese winging their way south in their wrinkled V-shaped flocks is one that often comes to mind. Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway between breeding and wintering grounds, undertaken by many species of birds. Migration occurs mainly in the Northern Hemisphere where birds are funneled on to specific routes by natural barriers such as the Mediterranean Sea or the Caribbean Sea.

Why do birds migrate?

Birds migrate to move from areas of low or decreasing resources to areas of high or increasing resources. The two primary resources being sought are food and nesting locations. 

Birds that nest in the northern hemisphere tend to migrate northward in the spring to take advantage of burgeoning insect populations, budding plants and an abundance of nesting locations. As winter approaches, and the availability of insects and other food resources drops, the birds move south again.

Escaping the cold is a motivating factor but many species, including hummingbirds, can withstand freezing temperatures as long as an adequate supply of food is available.

Maps: 
Migrating birds navigate using celestial cues from the sun and stars, the earth's magnetic field, and probably also mental maps.

Migrating birds:
Storks, swallows, turtle doves, geese and hummingbirds are examples of migrating birds.

Shared by Muneeb Elahi

Club Member

Migratory Birds, by Kenza (online member from UK)

Birds are one of several species of animal that migrate every year. Unlike animals such as hedgehogs, mice, bears, etc they do not hibernate. Instead, they fly to another part of the planet where it will be warmer for the season – and where they can find plenty of shelter and food.  

Why do birds migrate?

The main reason why birds migrate is that they know food will become scarce in winter. Most birds will migrate to places like Africa, where there will be plenty of food. Other birds change from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and vice versa – where the opposite hemisphere will become warmer as it nears to summer there.

Are there exceptions?

In places like the Amazonian Rainforest, in Brazil, birds don’t have to migrate because the Amazon is located close to the equator, in which case it would be warm in any season and there would be enough food for them to live.

However, some species of birds don’t migrate. They stay for the winter. Such birds in the northern hemisphere include blackbirds, robins, etc. They will usually feed on the berries found in hedgerows, worms and other insects and maybe bread or bird food from bird lovers.

When do birds arrive from their migration?

Birds that have migrated arrive back from early-spring to mid-spring. Usually from around March to May. A good time to spot a certain species of birds back from migration is around the first few days of May, very early in the morning (around dawn).

How many of them migrate?

The known amount of species of birds that migrate every year is 4000. That’s 40% of all the bird species on Earth. Swallows, ospreys, turtle doves, geese, Arctic terns, emus and chaffinches are among those 4000 species. Smaller birds include hummingbirds, flycatchers and warblers.

Which bird migrates the furthest?

Out of all the 4000 known species, Arctic Terns are known to travel the furthest. Each year they migrate 20,000km. They depart from Shetland to the Antarctic from the beginning of August to the end of October and they return back to Shetland from around end of March to the beginning of June.

Link

To see an interesting migration map, click on this link! http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/play/migrationmap.aspx

Written by kenza
Online Member from UK

Migratory Birds, by Abiha Salman (club member)

If you have ever shifted from one place to another, you know how difficult and tricky it is. Who wants to leave the comfort of their homes? Well, some birds do migrate away from their homes every year. Such birds are called migratory birds. 
So, what makes them leave the comfort of their cozy nests and migrate over thousands of miles to a new place each year? The main reasons are food and weather. As winter approaches, food becomes scarce and therefore, birds move to warmer places in search for food. Sometimes, birds fly away from home also to give birth to young ones in a conductive environment.

Written by Abiha Salman
Club Member

Report: Thinkers' Club Session 4

Session # 4
Date: 24^th August, 2014

Attended by: 17 participants
Report Written by: Fatima Salman

Today we had the 4th Session of Thinkers Club. We began with a quick round of introduction and then came to the presentations on Migratory Birds. This was the home task of the last session. 

Several kids had done this task and many of the club members had made Powerpoint presentations. One by one, each person presented his or her work. (All the research work done by members will be shared on the blog) It happened to be very informative. 

We discussed the topic, Why Birds Migrate? Most people had done a lot of research work and the answer was weather changes, which is the main reason for migration. The birds also need a warmer climate for hatching their eggs, so breeding is also a reason.

We discussed their routes and found out many interesting facts. Like in a route map shared by a member, we saw that the migration routes of certain birds are different for going and different for returning.

We then discussed about How does a bird remember it's way back from exactly where it started? This may not seem a very important question, but it is! Because many animals have a sense of direction better than us humans. They also figure out their way through stars. They know which star to follow which will lead them to their destination.

We ended with the task to find out about how people follow stars in travelling, what stars do they follow, and some research about it.

Note: Another member has joined our club through Online participation. Her name is kenza and she lives in the UK. 

Here is another report written by another Club Member, Azka Javeria.

On the fourth session of The Thinker's Club dated 24th August 2014 ,we first had a quick recap of things we did earlier, and then we saw the lovely presentations on Migratory Birds by, Talha Arif, Isam Majeed and Affaan Haider, and Ayan Bin Salman. There were also writings by Muneeb Ilahi, Zainab Salman,and a really descriptive writing by Abiha Salman. A new girl joined us online today, named Kenza from UK and she also sent a very nice writing and a very interesting link to a map of routes of different migratory animals ( rspb.org.uk/youth/play/migrationmap.aspx) . Some facts were also shared like "A salmon comes back to die at the place where it was born." A very reasonable question came up afterwards, "How do animals know there way?" there were a lot of different answers, because these theories have not yet been prove. We were told that some animals rub of there scent on there way. Animals that travel at night use the stars as their guides. Even humans travel with the help of stars when they are at sea. Later on we were given two home tasks: (1) We had to write short reflections on this class. (2) We had to search how someone can find there way with the help of stars. It was a very interesting session and we learned a lot from it.