HEMVATI NANDAN BAHUGUNA GARHWAL

UNIVERSITY
SRT CAMPUS , BADSHAHITHAUL

TOPIC:-
MIGRATION IN BIRDS

Present by :-
Present to :-
Shrishti Bangwal
Dr Ashish Dogra
MSc (Zoology)
Department of zoology
Roll No:23150348007
 MIGRATION 2

• In a broad sense, ‘migration’, as defined by Cahn,

“is a periodic passing of animals from one place to
another, (L. migrare, to travel)”.
• Bird migration is a two-way journey i.e. a regular,
periodic, to-and-fro movement of a population of
some birds between their summer and winter
homes, or from a breeding and nesting place to a
feeding and resting place.
 RESIDENT BIRDS

• Not all species of birds take part

in migration.
• Birds which remain throughout
the year in a country are known
as residents.
• Bobwhite and the ruffled sand
Northern Bobwhite
grouse, do not migrate at all.
 KINDS OF MIGRATION

I. Latitudinal migration:- II. Longitudinal migration.

• north to south and vice –versa . • East to west and vice versa
• Pronounced in the Northern • The Patagonian plover visits the
Hemisphere, having larger land Falkland Island, and south Patagonian
masses. in September and October for
• breeding.
Birds move during summer over the
• The starling moves from a breeding
temperate and sub-arctic regions of
area in east Europe or Asia towards
Northern Hemisphere, where there the Atlantic coast, to avoid the
are facilities for feeding and nesting. continental winter.
• The birds return to the south for
shelter during winter, when north is
covered with ice and snow.
• Example – American golden plover ,
Ruff breeds of sibera .
III. Altitudinal migration. IV. Partial migration.
• Birds migrate regularly up and down • An addition is made in constant
their slopes, as the weather changes. residents, which do not migrate at
The birds pass the summer in the all, by an influx of new individuals of
mountainous regions, but return to the same species for a short period.
the lowlands in winter. • Birds seen in winter are not the same
• It is merely a dispersal or short as seen in summer.
journey from the bleaker slopes to • Barn owls (Tyto alba), blue-birds and
the more protected valleys and has many blue jays of Canada and
been called altitudinal or vertical Northern United States travel
migration. southwards to mingle with the
• Example – common wood cock , Bush sedentary populations of the
chat , Scolopax ruticola , grebes and southern states.
coots of Andes in Argentina, violet • Example:- Songthrush, redbreast,
green swallows of Great Britain, and titmouse, finch, etc.
the willow ptarmigan of Siberia.
 VI. Seasonal migration.
V. Irregular or vagrant migration. • In Britain, swifts, swallows,
• In some birds, after breeding,
nightingales and cuckoos are
the adults and the young may
summer visitors, for they arrive in
stray from their home to
spring from the south, remain to
disperse in all directions over
breed and leave for the south in
many or a few hundred miles in
autumn.
search of food and safety from • Some like fieldfare, snow bunting and
enemies.
redwing are winter visitors, as they
• Examples:- Great Blue heron ,
arrive in autumn, chiefly from the
cuckoos , thrushes , warblers .
north, stay throughout the winter
and fly northwards again in spring.
• Snipes and sandpipers are the birds
of passage, seen for a short time
twice a year on their way to colder or
warmer countries in spring and
autumn.
 Modes of flight in migration
Nocturnal. And diurnal flight.
• Ducks, gulls, shore birds and many others may
migrate at night or in the day.
• Many large birds fly mainly by day, such as the
crows, swallows, robins, blackbirds, hawks,
bluebirds, jays, cranes, loons, pelicans, geese and
other shore birds.
• Warblers, thrushes, sparrows, etc. prefer to fly at
night, under the protective cover of darkness, to
escape their enemies.
2. Segregation during migration.
• Certain birds, such as night hawks,
swifts and kingfishers, travel in
3. Altitude of flight :- separate companies, while swallows,
• Probably takes place within 3,000 turkeys, blue birds, etc., travel in
feet of the earth. mixed companies of several species,
• Some small land birds, migrating at due to similarity in their size, method
night, fly at 5,000 to 14.000 feet. of search of food, etc.
Some species even cross the Andes
and the Himalayas at altitudes of
 4. Range of migration. :-
• The distances travelled by migratory birds depend upon
local conditions and the species concerned.
• For eg,. The Himalayan snow partridges descend a few
hundred feet only and cover hardly a mile or two, while
the chicades come down nearly 8,000 feet.
5. Speed and duration of flight. :-
• Average flight velocity of most small bird
seldom exceeds 30 miles per hour.
• The greatest speed, recorded in India, o
two species of swifts by E.C. Stuart, is
6. Regularity of migration. 171-200 miles per hour.
• Striking regularity in their timings
of arrival and departure.
• Come back to the same breeding
place year after year. 7. Routes of migration.:-
• Migratory birds usually follow
definite lines of flight.
• Deviation in path occurs due to
configuration of land, coastline,
courses of great rivers or intervening
mountain chains, etc.
 PROBLEMS OF MIGRATION
1. Way-finding or navigation.
(a) Visual landmarks :- topographical features or landmarks
(b) Experience :- older members, become leaders to guide the
younger generations or instinct impressed on their nervous
system.
(c) Telluric currents :- air-currents, which would lead the birds
straight to their destination
(d) Homing instinct
(e) Earth’s magnetic field :- birds navigate through responses to
the earth’s magnetic field and their inner ear reacts to the
mechanical Coriolis effect produced by the rotation of the
earth.
(f) Celestial bodies :- The late Gustav Kramer, a German
Ornithologist, claimed in 1949, that the birds which travel by
day use the sun as compass for orientation. Birds even
possess an internal time sense or time clock, with which
they make necessary adjustments in their course according
to the changes in the angle or position of the sun as the day
2. Origin of migration:-
• One theory assumes that the original home of the birds was in the
Northern Hemisphere. During Pleistocene, a mild climate prevailed
suitable to live for the birds. However, by the end of Pleistocene, there
was glaciation so that the Northern Hemisphere was covered by ice
sheets. With advancing glaciers, birds were forced South, but came back
when glaciers receded. Today’s migration shows a brief recurrence of the
ice-age event.

• The most convincing theory explains the process of migration as an

evolutionary one. In the past, tropical birds probably spread out in colder
northern latitudes, where food was abundant, but were forced South
when winter came.
3. Stimulus or immediate causes for
migration:-
• Scarcity of food, the shortening of daylight and the
increasing cold .
• Sudden rise in barometric pressure.
• Migration is a part of the sexual cycle. Birds begin to
move northward as their gonads begin to swell. By
the time they reach the breeding grounds, the
glands are active.
• Many species show restlessness and deposition of
4. Purpose or advantages of migration:-
• Avoid harsh climatic extremes.
• Migration from higher altitudes and latitudes (breeding
areas in the north) during winter affords protection from
cold and stormy weather, shorter days available for
searching food and scarcity of food.
• Birds migrate in order to utilize the food supply of both
the hemispheres and to explore new areas for nesting
purposes.
5. Sustenance during migration:-
• Pre-migratory deposition of fat.
• Fat produces more energy per unit weight.
• It also produces more water to cope with the high rates of
metabolism and breathing,
 THANK
YOU

References:-
1. CHORDATE ZOOLOGY by EL Jordan & Dr P S Yerma,
Fourteenth Edition by 5. Chand Publishing [Pg-543 to 5491]

2. MODERN TEXTBOOK OF ZOOLOGY VERTEBRATES by R.L

Kotpal Edition-2009-2010 by Rastogi Publication. [Pg-414 to
Pg-418]