Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1953-11-10
AROUND
OHIO
Rv George L. Zeis

DER WTETE Tic Dl1uS 81
This question is not new. Aris-
totle, way back when, noticed that
birds were abundant at one given
time-and then they were gone.
This learned man arrived at con-
clusion the hard way. He figures
they hibernated. The logical rea-
son of flight was overlooked. APP
parently it seemed too simple an
answer.
This theory of Information per-
sisted for many centuries, up until
the early 1900's as matter of
record.
Then the introduction of bird
banding from denmark was
brought to America. Two men in
this country, DR.. Paul Bartsch
(19O2) and P. A. Tavener (1904)
saw the possibilities of seeing
where birds went by this method
of identification. The American
Bird Banding Association develop
ed the program from 1909 until
1920 at which time it was turned
over to the u. S. Biological Sur
vey, now known as the u. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
After checking many banded
birds, it was found that there are
four major routes or flyways in
the United States. This discovery
was made as recent as 1885.
But all birds do not migrate.
Our old friend the Bobwhite is not
a tourist. He likes to do his whist
ling on familiar ground. Other
birds like the Rosy FincheS may
move up and down mountains dur
ing the various seasons but they
too like to stay in the same gen.
eral location.
Now the routes. The Atlantic
one follows the eastern coast,
down the Florida Peninsula, with
short hops across the various is
lands and into South America.
This route is Travelled by many
birds which nest in eastern Can
ada and the New England States.
Others vacation in Cuba. Some go
on to South America.
The Mississippi flyway is the
longest. 1t extends from the arctic
coast of Alaska into South Amer
lea. This is the most popular route
for it offers much food and free
dom from high mountains or even
hills. This route is famous for
warblers, sparrows, thrusheS black
birds, ducks and geese. More spe-
cies of birds can be seen along the
Mississippi River than any other
place in the world.
The central fIyway goes down
through Montana, Wyoming, Colo
rado,. and Texas. Many of the
birds taking this route nest in Al
aska. 1t is favored by ducks and
birds of the open plains.
The Pacific route starts at the
mouth of the Yukon and ends, gen.
orally in western Mexico.
But all birds do not take definite
routes. The Arctic Tern is the
worlds greatest traveller He en-
joys more hours of daylight in a
years time than any other bird.
The Arctic Term nests in north
ern Maine up to the upper part of
the Arctic Archipelago. Leaving the
nesting ground, it crosses the At
lantic Ocean, visits the coast of
Europe and Africa, may re-cross
to the eastern coast of South
America and spends its winter in
the Antarctic. Their summer and
winter homes are 1000 miles a.
part, but with all the side jaunts,
it's not unlikely for the Tern to
cover better than 25,0O0 miles in
one year.
Another bird which has an in
teresting voyage is the Golden
Plover. 1t nests above the Arctic
Circle and winters in Argentina.
The Plover takes his time to
travel. Apparently, he is in no
great hurry and consequently sees
a lot of the western hemisphere.
Robins and Grey-Cheeked thru
shes show another contract of
birds which are closely related.
The robin travels slowly with the
advance of spring. The Grey
Checked thrush, however, leaves
Southern Louisiana the latter part
of April. Thirty days later this
thrush is looking for a nesting
place in northern Alaska. He COW
ers the 1000 miles at an average
speed of 130 miles per day.
Some birds fly during the day
and catch insects while in flight.
This is true of most swallows.
However, the greater number of
birds prefer to travel at night.
All this travel sounds great
and it is. But there are many haz-
ards in migration. Storms kill un-
told numbers. Lighthouses, flood
lighted buildings, utility lines and
other structures all take a toll.
Man and animal take their share.
So all is not rosy.
But one of the most amazing fea-
lures of all this migration is -
what kind of navigation system do
these birds have? Man certainly