News stories tagged with "migration"

(02/14/12) Thousands of citizen scientists across the U.S. and Canada will get out their tally sheets for the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend. The survey begins Friday morning and continues through Presidents' Day.

Biologists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon are anxiously awaiting the data this year because of the warm winter weather across the country.

Todd Moe talks with Cornell's Pat Leonard about this year's count, and Adirondack bird guide Joan Collins for an update on bird sightings and migration trends in our region.

(03/11/10) An astonishing variety of warblers return with the northern spring from tropical climes. Some cross the Gulf of Mexico without a rest stop. Martha Foley asks Dr. Curt Stager, why? What do we have here that can't be found in Mexico or Martinique?

(04/17/08) Some migratory birds are heading North earlier because of climate change. That's causing problems for some bird species. Lester Graham reports.

(03/21/08) The calendar reads spring, but it still feels and looks like winter out there. Nonetheless, the spring bird migration is underway. There's a lot to see - backyard feeders are crowded and there are flocks overhead. Joan Collins, with Northern New York Audubon, says this is a season of transition as arctic birds migrate further north and "summer residents" return to our region to nest.

(09/11/06) Geese and other birds are gathering for the fall migration. After cases of a deadly strain of avian flu spread from the Far East west to Turkey last year, bird migrations are being watched as more than picturesque reminders of the change of season. The U-S government is testing wild migratory birds for a deadly strain of avian flu. The GLRC's Rebecca Williams reports, so far, no wild birds have tested positive.

(04/04/06) Researchers have been monitoring the spread of a potentially deadly strain of avian influenza overseas. Health officials worry the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that could infect humans. Some researchers say the virus could make its way to the United States as early as this fall, by way of wild migratory birds. The GLRC's Christina Shockley reports.

(10/16/03) Travel may broaden one's horizons, but varieties of Canada Geese content with the easy suburban life along the eastern seaboard are outbreeding their more traditional cousins who make the long semi-annual commute from Hudson Bay to Florida. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about stick-in-the-mud geese.

(04/26/02) Many North American birds are in serious decline. But scientists aren't sure what's wrong because birds are hard to count. The problem is partly that birds often migrate long distances between wintering sites and summer breeding grounds. Usually they fly unobserved at night. And in many cases scientists don't know what route they take. However, a new technique promises to solve this problem. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Daniel Grossman has our story.

(03/25/02) The monarch butterflies that spend the summer here in the North Country winter over in the mountains of central Mexico. Their annual migration is one of the world’s natural wonders. But this winter, an ice storm blasted Mexico's butterfly sanctuary. Tens of millions of monarchs died. Scientists say logging and subsistence farming have damaged the sanctuary's tree canopy, leaving the butterflies vulnerable. Now, the World Wildlife Fund and the Mexican government are spending millions of dollars, hoping to convince locals that the forest should be saved. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann visited the mountain region. He found that many researchers see this effort as the monarchs' last chance.

(09/27/01) How do birds discover their migration routes? Are they taught, is it instinct, or a special sense? Dr Curt Stager and Martha Foley discuss what's known and what's guessed.