[Tweeters] perception of spring migration

[Zora Dermer]

With regards to points 3 and 4, studies of migratory birds found dead in New Mexico last fall determined that the likely cause of death was long-term starvation.  While the very early cold snap and snow storm didn’t help matters for the birds, smoke was not as much of an issue.  The fires, on the other hand, are likely contributing to the issue of starvation by decimating habitat, including food sources, for these birds.

 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/southwest-bird-die-caused-long-term-starvation-180976643/

Zora Dermer

Sent from my iPad


> On May 16, 2021, at 10:32 AM, Jim Danzenbaker <jdanzenbaker at gmail.com> wrote:



> 3.) All the fires from last year that extended from Washington through California probably had an impact because these fires were burning in the Fall when our neotropical migrants were heading south.  If any of us were having a hard time breathing with the amount of smoke in the air, what must it have been like for our feathered friends trying to breath as they passed through these impacted areas?  Did we lose a higher than average number of neotropical migrants during the fires?

> 

> 4.) The catastrophic loss of birds that occurred in the Rockys last Fall as a result of an early storm and accompanying cold weather may have impacted birds that would have been returning to our area. Estimates of the number of birds killed in that one event number in the millions.  

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