MIGRATORY BIRDS

EXAMPLES OF MIGRATORY ANIMALS There are a lot of

migratory animals, like the elephant, the swallow, the whale, the dolphin, the tiger shark and more.

MIGRATORY BIRDS

When winter comes, a lot of birds migrate to Africa and other southern countries

Why do birds migrate?

Because there isn’t much food in winter, they go to warm countries to find food.

In spring, they return home, where they mate, they lay eggs in the nests and rear their baby birds.

How long is their journey? Birds fly for a lot of days because

they must travel across tens, hundreds, even thousands of kilometers in difficult conditions.

Some birds fly 30-35 km a day. Others fly non-stop, day and night; they eat while they are flying and they sleep in the air. Some birds must travel 2,000-3,000 km without a break.

 

The arctic tern is the animal that travels the most during migration. Some arctic terns travel 90,000 klm from the North to the Antarctic. In this way, they have two summers every year!

Dangers

There are a lot of dangers for migratory birds, like:

bad weather

hungry predators (e.g. birds of prey, foxes etc).

Dangers

Also, birds die when they are too tired or

when they can’t find enough food.

People kill thousands of migratory birds, too.

Dangers

Tall blocks of flats, roads, wind turbines, TV aerials, cables can kill birds when they are in the wrong place.

Dangers

And sometimes the places where they eat are smaller now and their journey is bigger. For example, the weather in Africa is different now and the Sahara desert is bigger.

So the birds can’t find water and food because there is drought and there aren’t many places with food and water. They travel more to find food and many die.

Dangers

And, finally, pollution.

Migration in Greece

There are a lot of migratory birds in Greece. Others come to breed here, others leave to find food in the winter and others just pass through our country

Some migratory birds that come to Greece are:

different species of swallows and ducks

also, nightingales storks hoopoes bee-eaters cuckoos

Some migratory birds that come to Greece are: corn-buntings spur-winged lapwings snake eagles ospreys Eleonora’s falcons and many many more

For more information, visit: the Hellenic Ornithological Society

sitehttp://www.ornithologiki.gr/index.php?loc=en

And the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

http://www.rspb.org.uk/

Research, Texts & Drawings D2 (Year4), 70 PS, Athens

Slideshow design, Pavlos & Faedra

Co-ordinator: E. Georgopoulou

Migration is Life