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United News of India
14-06-2025
- Science
- United News of India
Why do birds sing at dawn? A study from the Western Ghats unravel the morning chorus
New Delhi, June 14 (UNI) Have you ever wondered why so many birds choose quiet, dawn hours to sing the loudest? Intrigued by this mystery, a team of scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Project Dhvani in India took it upon themselves to unravel what drives this morning chorus. They discovered that it's not just the calm winds or cooler temperatures that set off this daily routine — it's what the birds eat and how fiercely they defend their territory that make the biggest difference. The team studied 69 bird species across 43 forest sites using advanced audio monitoring technology, revealing that territorial and omnivorous birds are far more likely to sing at dawn. This suggests that social behaviors—not just environmental conditions—are the primary reason for the surge in morning vocal activity. The research titled 'Why is the early bird early? An evaluation of hypotheses for avian dawn-biased vocal activity,' is published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. To collect the data, the team placed microphones throughout the forest to automatically record bird vocalizations throughout the day—technology often referred to as passive acoustic monitoring. This technology records audio that researchers later listen to and catalogue which species vocalized during the day, said the study. 'Passive acoustic monitoring allowed us to collect simultaneous acoustic data for 43 locations, over several months. We could not have done this study without it because we needed a lot of data to answer our questions,' said lead author Vijay Ramesh, postdoctoral researcher at the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, in the study. The other researchers included Pavithra Sundar, Meghana Srivathsa, both from Project Dhvani, Bangalore and Laurel Symes from K Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, New York. The team found that 20 bird species had substantially higher vocal activity at dawn compared to dusk. These dawn singers included species such as Gray-headed Canary-Flycatcher, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, and Large-billed Leaf Warbler. Only one species, the Dark-fronted Babbler, sang more often at dusk than dawn. Ramesh and his colleagues examined four possible theories to explain why several of the species they studied sang more at dawn compared to dusk. Existing theories suggest that dawn singing is more prevalent due to microclimate conditions such as wind speed and air temperature that would allow birds with high-pitched songs to be heard more clearly over longer distances. Other theories suggest that birds sing more at dawn to defend their territories or to maximize foraging opportunities later in the day when there is more light, or more insect activity. The team gathered additional data from existing literature such as degree of territoriality and diet to examine these four theories alongside the acoustic data they collected in the field. 'We found that highly territorial birds and omnivorous species were much more likely to be active singers during dawn hours," said the scientist. Singing in the early morning hours, the authors suggested, is important for territorial species to advertise and protect their locations. Species that eat insects and fruit (i.e., omnivores) also showed prevalence for singing more at dawn. Ramesh pointed out that omnivores might sing more at dawn because these species are often members of mixed-species foraging flocks where vocal communication is essential for finding food and for warning group members about potential predators nearby. However, he has called for additional research that includes visual observations is needed to confirm his speculation. "Our findings demonstrate that social factors, particularly territoriality and feeding habits, are more important in driving dawn singing behavior than environmental conditions," the scientist said. UNI AJ PRS
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Birds sing at sunrise to defend their territory and communicate about food: Study
Pune: Birds in the Western Ghats begin their day with a chorus of songs, mainly to protect their space and share important messages like food locations, a study has found. The study conducted in Valparai plateau in the Western Ghats by scientists Vijay Ramesh, Pavithra Sundar, and Meghana Srivathsa from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Project Dhvani showed that highly territorial birds sing loudly at dawn to warn others to stay away. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Some birds also use their morning songs to help their groups stay connected and informed, especially those that eat a mix of insects and fruits. The researchers placed audio recorders at 43 different rainforest sites to capture bird sounds and studied them between March 2020 and January 2021. The team listened closely to bird calls at dawn and dusk. Of the 120 species recorded, they focused on 69 commonly heard species. Among the birds most active at dawn were the Indian blackbird, little spiderhunter, oriental magpie-robin, and purple sunbird. These birds were often heard in the morning and, to a lesser extent, in the evening. The study was published in the Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions on June 12. Ramesh said, "Bird species vary widely in their diurnal vocalisation patterns, and the drivers of this variation are not well understood. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we examined species-specific vocal activity patterns at dawn and dusk for a tropical bird community in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India." The scientists tested whether environmental factors such as signal transmission conditions, ambient light, and resource availability, and social factors such as territoriality, best explained patterns of diurnal variation in vocal activity. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Using multiple autonomous recording units collecting data across numerous locations simultaneously, they can now obtain large amounts of species-specific acoustic data for an entire community. The Western Ghats is home to hundreds of bird species, several of which are rare, endangered, and endemic to this region. The Valparai plateau is situated in the Anamalai hill range within the Western Ghats and primarily consists of mid-elevation tropical wet evergreen rainforests. The plateau is a typical example of a human-modified biodiverse landscape in India and is home to hundreds of species of rare and endemic flora and fauna and supports the livelihoods of thousands of people. Sundar, another scientist who was part of this study, said, "We found that highly territorial birds and omnivorous species were much more likely to be active singers during dawn hours." The authors of the research paper stated that early morning hours were important for territorial species to protect their locations. Species that eat insects and fruit—that is, omnivores—also showed a prevalence for singing more at dawn. Sundar said these species were often members of mixed species foraging flocks, in which vocal communication was essential for finding food and for warning group members about potential predators nearby. However, additional research that includes visual observations is needed to confirm this speculation, Ramesh said. The researcher stated that this study helped them understand how birds communicated and how changes in the environment could affect their natural behaviour. "By listening carefully to nature, researchers are learning not just when birds sing, but why it truly matters," stated Ramesh. Acoustic signals of four species were detected only at dawn—the Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus), the little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra), oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis), and the purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus). Twenty species had vocal activity that was substantially higher at dawn. Notable representatives include the grey-headed canary-flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis), greater coucal (Centropus sinensis), large-billed leaf warbler (Phylloscopus magnirostris), and puff-throated babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps). The dark-fronted babbler (Rhopocichla atriceps) was the only species with significantly higher vocal activity at dusk.
Otago Daily Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Our homes' silent kereru killer
A Queenstowner's advising people with large glass surfaces on their properties to implement bird-safe glass treatments. PHOTO: ARCHIVE A Queenstown gardener is appalled she's now seen three dead native wood pigeons, or kereru, in Kelvin Heights as a result of glass collision — the latest early this month. Brenda Gosling, a gardener for 18 years, is calling on homeowners to implement bird-safe glass treatments like frosted glass stickers. Gosling says she stopped working for a Kelvin Heights client when he refused to take action after a kereru died flying into his glass balustrade. "Wood pigeons are swooping down and smack into these glass balustrades and break their necks. "Many of us choose glass balustrades to keep our views unobstructed, but those same surfaces are a silent killer for our kereru." She notes kereru are vital to the health of our forests. "As one of the only birds capable of dispersing large native seeds, they play a crucial role in regenerating native bush." Local ecologist Dawn Palmer's aware of glass collisions involving kereru. "At this time of year, some of our trees, rowans, hawthorns, holly trees, they're producing seed and if the kereru sit on these trees and gorge themselves on fruit, they can become a bit heavy. "They can sometimes have some difficulties taking off, and sometimes that leads them to collide with glass." Palmer says there are a number of products that can be put on windows "so the birds perceive the window as a solid object rather than a fly-through space in the reflected image on the glass". She recommends people check out on YouTube a recent Cornell Lab of Ornithology webinar, 'It's Clear — Glass Kills. How to Prevent Bird Collisions at Your Home'. She adds people can also join online a free Birds NZ Otago branch talk this coming Tuesday, 7.30pm, on 'Reflections on Bird Window Strikes in the Philippines'. Palmer adds anyone finding a dead kereru could take it to Department of Conservation so it can learn more about the bird. Anyone else aware of birds colliding with glass can email Brenda Gosling — brendagosling45@
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Weather radar picks up over 1 million migrating birds
Twice a year, migratory birds travel thousands of miles in pursuit of food and nesting habitats in warmer regions. In the United States alone, around 3.5 billion birds arrive in the spring, with peak migration periods in April and May. This migration is so large that sometimes meteorologists pick it up on weather radar. A whopping 1,417,900 birds flew over Albany County in New York between Monday night at 8:10 p.m. and Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. EDT– more than enough to be spotted on a weather radar. 'The Migration of the birds continue,' Steve Caporizzo, chief meteorologist at News10 Albany, wrote in a Facebook post. 'On Radar you can actually see them. Typically [they] take off in flight around 8-830pm…..right after sunset. They migrate at an average elevation of 1,400ft.' In the pictures shared by Caporizzo, bright green splotches appear on radar images, with particularly intense ones in the image from 9 p.m. According to bird migration tracking platform BirdCast, the birds soaring over Albany on Monday night likely included Baltimore orioles, American redstarts, scarlet tanagers, and great crested flycatcher, among others. Weather radar antennas work by shooting bursts of microwave energy into their surroundings, and then measuring the energy that reflects back to detect rain, snow, or hail in clouds. During World War II, British radar operators documented strange reflections that had nothing to do with the weather, and it wasn't until 1958 that a high school student in the US discovered that the mysterious signals were flocks of birds. [ Related: Why do birds migrate? Scientists have a few major theories. ] Bird migrations are perilous journeys. Besides requiring enormous amounts of energy, the animals face predators, bad weather, and collisions with human-made structures. Most birds migrate at night, and artificial lights can confuse and disorient them. Every year, over 1 billion birds die because of collisions with buildings in North America, with most deaths occurring in cities during migrations. As such, 'knowing when the peak [bird migration] period of an area is can help inform both birding and conservation action,' wrote Andrew Farnsworth, an expert in radar ornithology and a visiting scientist at Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (one of the groups that runs BirdCast). It can 'inform people what days it is most critically important to participate in turning out lights to reduce the collision risk and other hazards created by light pollution for migratory birds.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Weather Wednesday: Migrating birds and weather
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Signs of spring have been popping up across the state for the past month or so. Flowers blooming, your car turning green from pollen, the length of daylight, and even hearing more birds chirping and flying in the sky. Native birds that flew south for the wintertime are at their peak migration traveling back to Michigan during the day however most travel at night. Bird migration happens in seasons with the spring season happening between March and June and the fall migration occurring from late August to late November. Peak spring migration for Michigan typically occurs within the first or second week of May. In fact, according to BirdCast, a website created by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, data from 2023 found that for the Lansing area peak spring migration started around May 7th with the end of peak being around May 25th. Scientists say that peak migration is defined by the seasonal window during which about 50% of nighttime bird migration traffic passes through an area. Scientists say that during peak migration there could be as many as 500 million birds flying at night across the country. According to the National Audubon Society, about 70% of bird species migrate and of those about 80% migrate at night. But why do birds fly at night? And how does the weather play into this? By flying at night, it allows birds that aren't strong fliers to avoid tricky and dangerous flight situations. During the day the sun warms the ground, which as the ground warms it warms the air directly above it. As the ground starts to heat, pockets of warm air begin to rise. As they rise, they spin around and bump into other pockets of warm air. Thermals rise cool and eventually reach the same temperature as the surrounding air and flatten out. This is what causes the turbulence we feel when flying in an airplane. This continues to happen throughout the day and typically starts to end as we head into the evening and overnight hours. At night we tend to see calm winds and cooler conditions which is perfect for birds so they can avoid exerting too much energy and stay away from daytime predators. Scientists also believe that some birds use the stars as a compass to guide their journey and to know their direction when traveling. How can you help migrating birds this spring and this fall? Since a lot of birds migrate at night, they can become disoriented by light pollution leading to collisions with larger buildings. To help limit these collisions, officials say to shut non-essential lights off between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m However if you do need lights on, consider changing the color from cool toned to warm toned and finally directing lights to the ground to prevent shining into the night sky. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
