How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?

How have we been able to monitor the movement of birds without affecting their daily lives?

For thousands of years, people have always wondered where the birds went for a certain period of time? Many theories have tried to explain the disappearance of some birds during these times, including spiritual hypotheses. Medieval people believed that some species were trapped in cold lakes and could only escape when ice in the lake melted. There are also documents to show that people still imagine that these birds have gone to the moon. With science today, we know that these theories are wrong, but finding truth is not easy.

Picture 1 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
Where these birds go is a mystery to scientists.

These "disappearing" birds often travel to other parts of the world to avoid extreme weather and mate with other species in their species. However, where these birds go is a mystery to scientists. They cannot track these birds to their destination or use airplanes to follow them.

Picture 2 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
We always wonder where the birds went for a certain period of time.

Around 1900, a Danish teacher had an idea to solve this. He attached aluminum rings marked to the bird's feet, then released them back to natural life. When these birds are caught or seen, their positions are recorded and from there we know some things about their trajectories. Evidence of the first migration was found years after a white stork in Hungary was found dead in South Africa. This bird tracking technique is still quite rudimentary because it studies only a few places where birds have come, not the entire route they passed.

Picture 3 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
The researchers captured a bald head eagle (Bald Eagle) and attached a location monitor via Earth satellite.

This problem seems to have been resolved in 1984 when researchers in the United States caught a bald eagle (Bald Eagle) and attached a location tracker via Earth satellite. The reason Americans use Bald Eagle because it is big enough to fly everywhere with a human transmitter. But you can see, this transmitter is quite heavy and has a short battery life, so it is difficult to use this device on small sized birds.

Picture 4 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
The aluminum ring is marked on the bird's feet.

Picture 5 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
Scientists equip birds with a measure of sunlight intensity.

It took some time for researchers to take the next breakthrough when they realized that no more satellite technology was needed. Instead, they equip birds with a measure of sunlight intensity. This meter has an internal clock and a memory chip for storing information. This migration tracking system weighs less than 1 gram, meaning that even small birds can comfortably carry equipment when flying. So how can these recorders track the migration of birds?

The intensity of sunlight changes with time of day as well as location. The length of a day is a latitude index while the interval between sunrise and sunset is longitude index. The meter in the meter will measure the duration of a day, while the light intensity meter will calculate the time the sun sets at a specific location. This data can be used to deduce approximate latitude and longitude. In this way, we can track the complete trajectory of a migratory bird.

Picture 6 of How do we monitor the migration of birds in the world?
This light intensity meter has helped researchers understand bird details more than ever.

These light intensity meters have helped researchers understand bird details more than ever. Example: Antarctica and Arctic are considered the longest migration path in the world. It is believed that some birds have completed the 40,000 km flight route between Antarctica and the Arctic each year. However, recent findings using geolocation reveal that these birds actually travel twice as much this distance each year. Scientists say that birds may have taken advantage of the wind to reduce the energy for long trips today. These birds can make up to 2.5 million kilometers of life, equivalent to three trips around the moon.

What is the nature of these long-distance migrations? Researchers not only look at the migration pattern of animals, but also between points A and B to determine whether a species moves to new locations based on feed density, changing water temperature or Adaptability of animals with these changes.