However, in the past, our perception of bird migration was quite different. Aristotle claimed that swallows, storks, dippers, doves, and larks all hid in holes in the ground and hibernated for the winter. He also believed that birds were capable of transforming themselves, asserting that the European redstart metamorphosed into a robin. Barnacle geese are named as such because medieval Europeans felt they popped out of goose-necked barnacles each summer. It is unfortunate that Aristotle missed out on the great fall raptor migrations or the floods of migrants returning in waves to the Northeast in the spring.
Bird flight is an amazing sight to behold.
Be sure to climb a mountain this fall and take in the sight of hawks filling the air. Then you too will begin to love birds.