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Migrations: Veeries Predict Hurricanes

September 27, 2021
In some cases, the birds are better than computer models!
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Light brownish-red bird with its back to viewer, looking to its right Expand Image
© Kelly Colgan Azar / FCC

In some years, tawny-colored thrushes called Veeries cut their breeding season short. Researchers discovered that Veeries tend to stop breeding early in the same years that the Atlantic hurricane season is particularly severe. Surprisingly, Veeries are sometimes better at predicting hurricane conditions than computer models! Despite their forecasting prowess, though, Veeries are vulnerable to climate change.

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BirdNote®

Veeries Predict Hurricanes

Written by Ariana Remmel

This is BirdNote.
[Veery song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/30930861]
The whirling, flute-like song of the Veery rings through the trees of the northern United States and southern Canada during its summer breeding season. These tawny-colored thrushes raise only one brood of chicks each year. And they’ll try as many times as it takes to successfully fledge offspring. 
Except that in some years, the Veeries cut their breeding season short. Birds that still haven’t raised chicks give up on breeding altogether. But why?
[Storm and wind]
With some clever data-sleuthing, researchers discovered that Veeries tend to stop breeding early in the same years that the Atlantic hurricane season is particularly severe. Instead, they prepare for their fall migration over the Gulf of Mexico to the Amazon region of South America. In fact, Veeries are sometimes better at predicting hurricane conditions than computer models! And that’s particularly intriguing to scientists, because the birds seem to forecast storms months in advance. It’s still a mystery how these songbirds became such incredible meteorologists. 
As climate change increases the number and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes, many songbirds like the Veery could suffer the consequences. Not only do they have less time to breed, but their safety is compromised as they are forced to fly through fierce tempests during fall migration season. 
[Veery song, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/30930861]
To learn more about what you can do to support migratory birds at home, start at our website: BirdNote dot ORG.
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Production Manager: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Digital Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Veery ML 30930861 recorded by I. Davies.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© September 2021 BirdNote      Narrator: Ariana Remmel

VEER-01-2021-09-27     VEER-01

Ariana Remmel
Writer
Ariana Remmel
Narrator
Tags: ornithology, science

Related Resources

Audubon: Are These Birds Better Than Computers at Predicting Hurricane Seasons?Veery – More at All About Birds

More About These Birds

Veery (Catharus fuscescens)

Catharus fuscescens

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Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

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