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 Birds migration

Bird’s migration
Birds migration routes in world
Why Birds Migrate Differently
In Pakistan through Indus flyway
Frequency of Birds Migration
Top Ten Migratory Birds In The Studying Migration.
World
Threats to migratory birds
Cause for migration
Disadvantages of Bird Migration
Types of Bird Migration:

Navigation in birds: References

Adaptation for Migration

Bird’s migration

Latin word, migratus, which means “to

change

Examples

water fowl, hobara bustard, cranes, teals,

pintail, mallard, geese, spoon bills, waders,
pelicons and gadwall etc.
Why Birds Migrate Differently?

Survival Food

Breading Shelter
Frequency of Birds Migration
9,000 and 10,000 species of birds
Two thousand species of birds, make
regular seasonal movements.
40% of these migratory species are
declining
200 are now classified as globally
threatened (BirdLife, 2018).
enter into Pakistan from September-
November via Indus flyway
 Top Ten Migratory Birds In The World (Dutta,
2017) Alaska to Central Europe and Asia
Bluethroat
. Insects, caterpillars and berries.

The Red Knot  from far north in the Arctic to the southern tip of
South America.
 travelling up to 16,000 kilometres twice a year
eat spiders and arthropods

Osprey  from North America, moves toward Central and

South America and Africa.
 dives up to three feet under the water to catch
fish
Greater  Comes to India from Siberia during the winters.
Flamingo  eat small crustaceans, molluscs, worms, insects,
small fish and sometimes some plant matter
Bar Headed  Bar Headed Geese like to fly over Himalayan Mountains, to reach
Geese Indian Subcontinent from Central Asia during winters
 Eat plants and crustaceans and invertebrates.

Cuckoo  migrates between Asia and Africa

 Some migrate to Southern Europe and Africa.
 cross the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara in a single flight

Arctic Tern  Native to the Arctic and move toward Antarctic.

 Loves to eat insects, small fish, worms, mollusks, and crustaceans,
such as crayfish or shrimp.

The Great Snipe  travels to Africa during the winter season

 Eat Small invertebrates (worms and insect larvae).

Bar Tailed  Migrate to coasts in East Asia, Alaska, Australia, Africa,

Godwit northwestern Europe and New Zealand.
 Eat shellfish, marine snails and worms and shrimps.
Cause and for migration
• 1. Instinct and Gonadal changes:
• to migrate in birds is possibly instinctive (in born) and
the migration towards the breeding grounds is associated with gonadal changes
• 2. Scarcity of food and day length
• shortening of day light
• scarcity
• Large hawks which feed on mammals and birds
• Fruit-eating birds may not have to migrate
• crossbill, finches
• Fish-eating birds arctic tern
 6. Predators:
3. Photoperiodism: 1, Birds that migrate to
different habitats can
1. The day length avoid
affects pituitary and 2. steep coastal
pineal glands cliffs or rocky offshore
2. Secret sex hormone islands.
(geese) 4. Seasonal variation:
7. Disease:
5. Climate:
habitat is susceptible to
Arctic breeding to
parasites
Antarctic
tropical regions to
temperate
Types of Bird Migration
• Longitudinal migration:
• The longitudinal migration occurs when the birds migrate
from east to west and vice- versa (starling)
• Altitudinal migration
• The altitudinal migration occurs in moun­tainous regions
• Golden plover (Pluvialis) starts from Arctic tundra and goes
up to the plains of Argentina covering a distance of 11 250
km
• Move in flocks.
• Partial migration:
• Only several members of a group take part in
migration
• Blue Jays, Coots and spoon bills of our
country may be example of partial migration.
• Total migration:
• Vagrant or irregular migration:
• birds disperse to a short or long distance
for safety and food, it is called vagrant or irregular migration
(heron spoted egle)
• Daily migration:
• Seasonal migration:
Nocturnal and Diurnal Flight:
• Diurnal migration:
• . migrate during daytime for food. These birds are called diurnal
birds and gene­rally migrate in flocks (hawks, crow, gees).
• Nocturnal birds:
• Some small-sized birds of passerine groups like
sparrows, warblers, etc. migrate in darkness, called
nocturnal birds.
• The darkness of the night gives them protection from
their enemies (Tinka).
Adaptation for Migration
• The hawk, with its large wingspan, is capable of speed and soaring.

• Gannets and seabirds are streamlined to dive at high speeds into the
ocean for fish
•.
• Some birds eat along the route, but some birds eat more just before
migration and store a special,

• Most birds that require food during the trip fly by night in small flocks.
This allows them to eat during the day, and avoid some predators.
Morphology
• increase the efficiency of long distance flight
• Wing pointedness is frequently
• migrants have smaller and flatter skulls than residents
Behavioural modification
• Behavioral traits of migratory birds, such as flock formation
• There is a 70% increase in efficiency when flying in V formation.
• benefits the communication among the birds.
Moult
• Feathers get worn by use and exposure to light
• insulatory function damaged
• plumage is replaced periodically
• redstarts
 stop for moult during migration
Navigation in birds:
Landmarks.

Stellar Cues.
• Some Warblers (day
time)
• Some warblers (night Solar Cues
time) • need to see the sun to navigate
• Sauer performed • Even nocturnal birds seem to take their
experiments cue from the sun
• Kramer performed experiments
• Starlings (diurnal migrants)
• navigation and orienta­tion of night
migrants is unknown.
Geomagnetic Cues.
• sea and desert often interrupt the migration routes
• songbirds, whose fat reserves
• magnetic cues might enable inexperienced migratory birds to
recognize

• Nightingales before their first migration simulating

migratory cues extend their fat-deposition period
• migration possess innate behavior
• celestial rotation appears to be dominant
• celestial cues appear to be controlled by the magnetic field
Birds migration routes in world

Africa-Eurasia
Flyway
East Asia-Australasia Americas Flyway
 Europe and
Flywa  North American
northern Asia
 north-east Asian with with the
with the Africa
the south-east Asia Caribbean and
 stop-over sites
and Australia, Central and South
in the Middle
 stop-over sites in America.
East and
Mediterranean China
In Pakistan through Indus flyway

• In Pakistan, an estimated population of one million birds migrates

during winter.

• prefer to stay on various wetlands of Sindh province

• Quill migration in Pakistan

• There is a group of hunters that believe that the Quails migrate from
North to South reaching Sindh around mid-August
Migration of Houbara buster
• Migration patterns of Asian Houbara Chlamydotis
macqueenii wintering in the Cholistan Desert, Pakistan in 1998 were
monitored using satellite transmitters.

• arrived on breeding grounds in China, Mongolia and Uzbekistan

between 16 and 27 May

• stayed on their breeding areas for 135 days.

• arrived on the wintering grounds in the Cholistan Desert between 20

October and 15 December.
• 25,000-35,000 Houbara birds Pakistan CARs,

sinkian freezing temperature

• Covering about 5,500km distance from Siberia and CARs, the

• very quickly taking only five to seven days over a height of 4,730 meters to

Pakistan

• passing Chitral, Nowshera, Kohat, Lakki Marwat and stays in Dera Ismail Khan,

DG Khan and onward to Cholistan desert (Bahawalpur

Why it move to southern punjab?
• Houbara is very sensitive and it does not use the route again if they
sense any danger

• districts of D.I. Khan, Tank, Rahim Yar Khan, DG Khan and arid areas of
southern Punjab provide rich diversity of flora, fauna, insects and
weeds to the endangered species,

• Its population is declining in the range states of Afghanistan, Pakistan,

Iran, India, UAE and other Middle Eastern countries due to illegal
hunting and destruction of its habitats.
Studying Migration.

geolocators.
Banding
satellite
tracking,
 Threats to migratory birds
Threats Intensity Medium Low
High

Habitat destruction √
Hunting and fishing √
Poverty √
Habitat destruction

• Hingol National Park from 2005-2007 and observed 204 species of

which 72 were winter visitors, 15 passage migrants, 16 summer
breeding visitors,

• Decline due to habitat destruction

Anthropogenic
activities

Unawareness Fish hunting