Farms help migrating birds
Every year, lots of animals around the world go on long journeys called migrations. Some need to find food; others are looking for somewhere to find a mate, breed and raise their young. Migrations can be long and challenging for animals but new research on birds has found that farmland along the way can help their progress.
In spring, hundreds of thousands of birds living near Lake Poyang, in China, fly north to breed in Siberia, Russia. On the way, they find places to stop and eat to keep their energy levels up for the long flight. Some birds, such as geese, eat grass shoots that start to grow at the beginning of the season. This food source is only available for a few weeks and rising temperatures caused by climate change can sometimes make the grass grow earlier than usual. This means that some birds are arriving too late to eat the grass, leaving them without a food source. As more land is used for farming, the natural wetlands where birds like to forage for food are disappearing too.
A team of researchers recently tagged 246 birds, including geese and tundra swans, that were flying from Lake Poyang to Siberia, to track their journeys. They found that the birds have adapted their diets to the changing environments they pass through. As well as eating grass from the natural wetlands found along the way, the birds are also eating leftover seeds dropped or spilled by farmers.
The researchers believe that seeds will become a more important part of migrating birds’ diets as more natural habitats disappear. They suggest that if farmers use different methods of harvesting crops, such as machines that leave behind more seeds in fields, it could help to feed migrating birds. However, they also said wetlands must be protected, so the birds can have access to different foods during their long journeys.