Adventure Ausrama Blog

As soon as inland rain arrives at Australian lakes, the banded stilt water bird makes its presence felt as well. It somehow knows that the rains have started from several hundred miles away.  This useful ability determines their way of life. They don't hang about long. Rainfall will be limited so they move on to the next fresh rains spot. Birds were tagged with satellite transmitters. One bird flew directly to a saline wetland 1,000 miles away in two days. Another bird got there four days later, but the destination for both was the same. Banded stilts do not have to migrate for improved feeding conditions. Their inbuilt system allows them to always find water. Why don't other birds do this? Obviously, evolution is "hit-and-miss". Animals develop abilities purely by chance. This is why evolution is successful. Animals move into niches that line up with their attributes. ✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴ http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/

An Australian bird has flown a long way. Scientists were studying birds on the shores of western Alaska in the Arctic. They saw a bartailed godwit and examined the bird believing it to be a local inhabitant. The tag on its leg, however, showed that it had flown a very long way. Australian scientists had banded the bird earlier in Victoria. The small creature had travelled more than 8,000 miles. Studies had shown that bartailed godwits usually spend their life in the same local area where they were born, though many presumed that they flew to the Arctic to breed. This has now been substantiated by the discovery. It is known that banded dunlin and semipalmated sandpipers fly to the Arctic from Asia and South America. With the Arctic thawing, damage could be done to future breeding populations of birds. The hotter Arctic summer could affect the survival of the young. Migratory shorebirds are decreasing in number. This is due, it is believed, to habitat loss and global warming. More resear