Birds' Migration Speed

The speed with which birds migrate varies with different species of birds and with the same species of bird in different parts of its journey. In general, birds travel faster during the latter I)art of their journey than during the first part. During the first part of March, the robin averages thirteen miles a day in migrating from southern Iowa to central Minnesota. From here its speed keeps increasing till it is traveling at the rate of seventy miles a day when it reaches Alaska by the middle of 1’1ay. The robins along the Atlantic Coast travel more slowly, at the rate of seventeen miles a day.

The average speed for all species of birds is twenty-three miles per day from New Orleans to southern Minnesota. From this locality some species travel northward at the rate of forty miles a day, and still farther north some at seventy-two miles, others at one hundred and sixteen miles, and five species, on arriving in Alaska, are traveling at the rate of one hundred and fifty miles a day.

The figures here given are for the species as a whole, not for individual birds. Usually birds migrate only a few hours during the night and then rest for a day or two, so that the average rate at which a species migrates is much less than for an individual bird. Our common small birds probably travel at the rate of about thirty miles an hour while migrating; ducks and geese may travel at the rate of forty-five miles an hour. Thus during a single night birds may travel from two hundred to four hundred miles.

Some birds migrate by day, some by night, and some both by day and night, but most are night travelers. The time selected by a bird for migration depends on its power of flight, its method of procuring food, and its disposition. The warbiers, vireos, and thrushes migrate by night, the swallows and hawks by day; while ducks, shore-birds, and sea-birds migrate both by day and night.

Yahoo! News Search Results for birds migration
Yahoo! News Search Results for birds migration

Migration of birds a spectacle for all to enjoy
One of the many amazing spectacles of nature has started: the fall migration of birds and butterflies.
Migratory birds herald start of autumn migration
The first marsh harriers have already been spotted in Malta, the island being used by the birds as a resting spot before continuing their migration across the Mediterranean to Africa.
Be kind to birds while saving $
It?s the fall migration season for our feathered friends, and NYC Audubon wants to cut down on the estimated 90,000 birds killed in the city each year when they fly into buildings.
Storks and birds of prey herald start of migration
Birdlife Malta has reported that over the last few days, a flock of 20 White Storks and the first migratory birds of prey have been seen by local birdwatchers, heralding the start of the autumn migration season. Europe?s birds have once again started to leave their breeding grounds ahead of the winter months, moving towards their African wintering [...]
Angry Birds App Eyes Hollywood Migration
A top-selling mobile phone game featuring birds being detonated to kill egg-stealing pigs could become a blockbuster movie if talks with Hollywood studios pay off.
Annual hawk migration draws birders to Cape May Point State Park and Pennsylv...
Not long after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the air was still cool and the sun was just a glow on the horizon, Melissa Roach and Pete Dunne saw it through their binoculars, riding in low over the cedars: an American kestrel, also known as a sparrow hawk.
New York dims the lights to save birds from collision
A growing number of New York sky-scrapers switch off their lights at night to help reduce the number of migratory birds hitting the buildings.
Watching birds can be big business
Grabbing a pair of binoculars and bird watching is second nature to Lydia Thompson of St. Simons Island. Birding - actively listening to and watching birds - became her hobby as a child and inspires her art career today.
Storks and raptors herald start of migration
A White Stork. Migration coincides with the start of the autumn hunting season, which is open for five months from the 1 September to the 31 January for 32 species of wild migratory birds.
Science & Environment
A growing number of New York sky-scrapers are switching off their lights to help reduce the number of birds hitting the high-rise buildings. The "lights out" project - organised by NYC Audubon - runs until 1 November, when migratory birds are expected to have completed their autumn migrations.