Migration - the birds vs. humans

While researching for my earlier post on migration trends, I found an interesting correlation of how our own human migration patterns seem closely relate to another fascinating natural migration phenomenon by another species on this planet, the birds. (side note : love that hitchcock's movie)

I know you won't believe me unless I put in some convincing facts... so I dug up little dirt on web, and here's where you can see a strong correlation between them, the birds vs. us, the humans.

Why migrate ?

• Mating & Breeding, for birds the main reason is that the climate of breeding area for new chicks is important amen..same for us humans too.


• Greener pastures and abundance of food .. ofcourse, abundance of jobs, greenbacks $$$

Who migrates ?

• Recent research suggests that long-distance passerine migrant birds are of South American and African, rather than northern hemisphere, evolutionary origins. They are effectively southern species coming north to breed rather than northern species going south to winter.


• Recent research on human immigration suggests that long-distance immigrants are of South American and Asian descent, rather than from Northern/Western hemisphere, evolutionary origins. They are effectively Eastern and Southern species coming to West and north.

Timing to migrate ?

• In the period before migration, many birds display higher activity, well as physiological changes such as increased fat deposition - we do observe high activity of individuals before they decide to migrate, not sure of fat deposition ..hmm !


• In species where there is polygamy and with considerable sexual dimorphism, there is a tendency for males to return earlier to the breeding sites than their females. This is termed as protandry. - definitely males seem to land before their females

What threatens the migration ?

• Human activities have threatened many migratory bird species. - ditto here ! greedy corporation's deeds and reckless immigration policies come to haunt many immigrants


• The concentration of birds during migration can put species at risk. Told you ! not to flock to Bay area ! and ofcourse the longlines for visa and green cards !


• Hunting along the migratory route can also take a heavy toll. The populations of Siberian Cranes that wintered in India declined due to hunting along the route, particularly in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Ofcourse, those Talibans ... 9/11, Afghan and Iraq wars did take a toll on immigration !


• Habitat destruction by land use changes and large scale climatic changes is however the biggest threat - same for us, 401k destruction and large scale economic changes !


• Availability of food - sure, availability of jobs

Migration conditioning ?

• It has been possible to teach a migration route to a flock of birds, for example in re-introduction schemes. After a trial with Canada Geese, microlight aircraft were used in the US to teach safe migration routes to reintroduced Whooping Cranes.



• Human - hell, yes, large scale training efforts by certain corporations to build cheap skills can induce forced migration. Good examples are IT training centers setup in India led to mass migration of IT consultants to US

Side effects

• The migration of birds also aids the movement of other species including those of ectoparasites such as ticks and lice (avian flu !), which in turn may carry micro-organisms including those of concern to human health. On the same lines in case of humans, Body shoppers, Criminals and drug traffickers



• Vagrancy - Migrating birds can lose their way and land outside their normal ranges. These can be due to flying past their destinations as in the "spring overshoot" in which birds returning to their breeding areas overshoot and end up farther north than intended. Hello, Canada ! did you know immigrants accounted for 38% of population in Vancouver (wonder what the % of overshoots !).

So, it does seem perfectly natural and in human's DNA to alter our migratory routes to find better breeding grounds and greener pastures.. so while at it, of course keep a watch out for those ever changing (hunting, I mean, immigration) laws. Happy migration ! and remember next time you see a flock of birds flutter by... that could be telling you some thing about where you should go next !!!

Facts source : wapedia