From: "Kevin A.
Date: Mon, 05 Dec 1994 18:42:36 -0500 (EST)
To: Jessica Morton
Subject: Re: migrating

On Mon, 5 Dec 1994, Jessica Morton wrote:
> Dear Kevin-
> We are finally online with our bird research questions. I hope you have time
to
> answer Daniel's first one.
> He wonders if birds come to North America from somewhere else, and I thought
you
> would be a good person to ask since you used to live in Panama.
>
> Thanks for your help.

Hello once again,

Daniel's question is a great one! (One way to tell if a scientific
question is a great one is to see how long it takes scientists to answer
it; they are still arguing LOUDLY over this one!) Birds do indeed come
to North America from other places. They also go back to many of those
same places later on. But why? This is one of the great mysteries of
science yet to be solved. One part of the answer involves breeding.
Each summer, birds from all over Central and South America come to the US
to build nests and raise chicks. Scientists think that the warm weather
here in the summertime has much to do with this. Remember, while its
summer up here, it's winter in South America! Not only does warm weather
make it easier to raise families, but also warm weather means more bugs!
(Think of all those mosquitoes in July and August!) Many birds depend on
insects (and even mosquitoes, which are also insects) to survive. An
ideal place for a bird to live is not only where there are enough bugs
for it to survive alone, but there also needs to be enough to feed its
young chicks as well.

The scientists argue about silly things sometimes, such as whether the
birds live in the United States and migrate to the south to spend the
North American winter, or do they live in the countries to the south and
migrate to the US to breed in the summer? I don't think it makes much
difference. The important thing is to know where the San Juan Capistrano
swallows go when they are not here, so we can protect their habitat
wherever they are.

Migrating birds are a tremendous portion of all the birds in the United
States: 70% of alll the birds EAST OF THE MISSIPPI ALONE migrate to the
tropics each year. (they are called Neotropical Migrants) With all the
deforestation in the tropical countries, as well as the spread of
shopping malls, neighborhoods, and elementary schools such as yours, the
birds are running out of places to live! Just like the whales did when
they were hunted, the birds are starting to die off in large numbers. It
is up to all of us to work together to find answers to these problems, so
that all of our children and grandchildren will still have birds to enjoy.

Glad to answer any additional questions. Keep them coming!
Kevin A.