migration Archives - American Ornithological Society

Blackpoll warbler sitting on a branch in a tree — Blackpoll Warbler, Guajira Peninsula, Colombia. Photo by Nick Bayly.

07 September 2021

So much to eat, so little time: A rapid refueling stop on arrival in South America is key to epic migration of the Blackpoll Warbler

By Nicholas J. Bayly Linked paper: Rapid recovery by fat- and muscle-depleted Blackpoll Warblers following trans-oceanic migration is driven by time-minimization by Nicholas J. Bayly, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, D. Ryan Norris, Philip D. Taylor, and Keith A. Hobson. Ornithology. For scientists and bird watchers alike, when we think about epic migratory journeys, the Blackpoll Warbler …

Photo of Neotropical austral migrant species: Tropeiro Seedeater and White-crested Elaenia — Two Neotropical austral migrant species that migrate between south-temperate latitudes and tropical latitudes of South America: Tropeiro Seedeater (left), photo by Márcio Repenning; White-crested Elaenia (right), photo by Victor Cueto.

22 September 2020

AOS

How, Why, and Which Birds Migrate in the Neotropics?

As earth-bound, bipedal creatures, our view of the world contrasts sharply with that of the miniature winged beasts we call songbirds.

Red-necked Phalarope hatchlings. Photo by Emily Weiser.

22 June 2020

AOS

Large-Scale Coordinated Effort Sheds Light on Difficult-to-Study Arctic Shorebirds

Bird migration is one of the most spectacular wildlife phenomena on the planet, especially that of shorebirds that migrate thousands of miles every year.

08 May 2020

AOS

Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day With Six Cool Migration Studies

In celebration of World Migratory Bird Day, here are six favorite migration-related papers published in AOS journals in the past year.

a brown songbird being held in a researcher's hand — Nightingales’ average wing length relative to their body size has decreased over the last two decades. Photo by Javier de la Puente.

01 April 2020

AOS

Climate Change May Be Making Migration Harder By Shortening Nightingales’ Wings

The Common Nightingale, known for its beautiful song, breeds in Europe and parts of Asia and migrates to sub-Saharan Africa every winter.

eleven individual photos of different colorful songbird species — Eleven species of Neotropical migrants that were the focus of this study. Photos by Nick Bayly.

10 March 2020

AOS

Is the Darién Region of Colombia a Migratory Bottleneck for Neotropical Migrants?

Our passion for migratory birds and curiosity to reveal the mysteries of migration took us to one of the most spectacular regions of Colombia: the Darién.

small blue, black, and white bird perched on a mossy tree trunk — Black-throated Blue Warblers have shifted the timing of their spring and fall migrations over the past fifty years. Photo by Kyle Horton.

20 February 2020

AOS

Fifty Years of Data Show New Changes in Bird Migration

New research shows that fall migration patterns have been shifting over time.

female and male phainopepla — Female (left) and male Phainopeplas. Photo by Daniel Baldassarre.

15 October 2019

AOS

Rare Itinerant Breeding Behavior Revealed in California Bird

Reproduction and migration are the two most demanding tasks in a bird’s life, and the vast majority of species separate them into different times of the year.

25 September 2017

Bob Montgomerie

Snow in the Mountains

I had no sooner posted last week’s piece about David and Elizabeth Lack in the Pyrenees when there were barn swallows everywhere in the Biros Valley. Until then I had seen no sign of the sort of visible migrations described by the Lacks, possibly because mid-September is a bit too early for that. For the …

18 September 2017

Bob Montgomerie

Grandeur and Novelty

How do small land birds migrate past high mountain ranges? This is not a question that has often been asked in the Americas because most of the big mountain ranges run north-south. But in Europe, where the Alps and the Pyrenees would seem to be a formidable barrier to migration (see map below), this issue …