MinuteEarth Explains: Birds

This summer, we partnered with Nate Senner of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Tebughna School in Beluga, Alaska to make this series of videos all about how, why, and where birds migrate. We had so much fun making these videos that we decided to make them available for free to anyone and everyone who is curious about the secrets birds hold. Enjoy!
LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Adaptation: a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
- Bird Banding: the practice of catching birds, marking them with an identifying band around the leg, and then releasing them.
- Light Level Geolocator: a lightweight, electronic archival tracking device, usually used in bird migration research to map migration routes, identify important staging areas, and sometimes provide additional ecological information.
- Migration: seasonal movement of animals from one region to another.
- Physiology: the branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts.
SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH
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If you like what we do, you can help us!:
- Become our patron: / minuteearth
- Share this video with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
CREDITS
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Cameron Duke | Script Writing, Narration, and Directing
David Goldenberg | Script Writing and Directing
Lizah van der Aart | Illustration and Animation
Ever Salazar | Video Editing
Aldo de Vos | Music
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
neptunestudios.info
OUR STAFF
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Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke
Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes
Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich
Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida
OUR LINKS
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KZbin | / minuteearth
TikTok | / minuteearth
Twitter | / minuteearth
Instagram | / minute_earth
Website | minuteearth.com
REFERENCES
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Both, Christiaan, and Marcel E. Visser. “Adjustment to Climate Change Is Constrained by Arrival Date in a Long-Distance Migrant Bird.” Nature, vol. 411, no. 6835, May 2001, pp. 296-298, 10.1038/35077063
Chernetsov, Nikita, et al. “Migratory Orientation of First-Year White Storks (Ciconia Ciconia): Inherited Information and Social Interactions.” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 207, no. 6, 22 Feb. 2004, pp. 937-943, 10.1242/jeb.00853
Farnsworth, Andrew, et al. “A Comparison of Nocturnal Call Counts of Migrating Birds and Reflectivity Measurements on Doppler Radar.” Journal of Avian Biology, vol. 35, no. 4, July 2004, pp. 365-369, 10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03180.x.
Gilchrist, Grant, et al. “Can Local Ecological Knowledge Contribute to Wildlife Management? Case Studies of Migratory Birds.” Ecology and Society, vol. 10, no. 1, 2005, www.jstor.org/stable/26267752. Gill, Frank B. Ornithology. New York, W.H. Freeman, 1995.
Gill, Robert E., et al. “Crossing the Ultimate Ecological Barrier: Evidence for an 11000-Km-Long Nonstop Flight from Alaska to New Zealand and Eastern Australia by Bar-Tailed Godwits.” Condor, vol. 107, no. 1, 1 Feb. 2005, pp. 1-20, doi.org/10.1650/7613
Greenwood, Jeremy J. D. “Citizens, Science and Bird Conservation.” Journal of Ornithology, vol. 148, no. S1, 10 Nov. 2007, pp. 77-124, 10.1007/s10336-007-0239-9
“Lift from Flow Turning.” Nasa.gov, 2018, www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/right2.html
Orellana-Macías, José M., et al. “Shifts in Crane Migration Phenology Associated with Climate Change in Southwestern Europe.” Avian Conservation and Ecology, vol. 15, no. 1, 2020, 10.5751/ace-01565-150116
“Satellite Telemetry and Its Impact on the Study of Animal Migration | Learn Science at Scitable” www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/satellite-telemetry-and-its-impact-on-the-94842487
Strikwerda, T. E., et al. “Bird-Borne Satellite Transmitter and Location Program.” Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, vol. 7, no. 2, 1986, pp. 203-208, pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/5221497
“The Bar-Tailed Godwit’s Annual Migration Is Utterly Astounding.” Audubon, 1 Sept. 2017, www.audubon.org/news/the-bar-tailed-godwits-annual-migration-utterly-astounding
“The Basics of Bird Migration: How, Why, and Where.” All about Birds, 1 Aug. 2021, www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-basics-how-why-and-where-of-bird-migration/
“Theories about Migration | Understanding Migration.” The RSPB, www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/natures-home-magazine/birds-and-wildlife-articles/migration/understanding-migration/
“To the Ends of the Earth | National Geographic Society.” education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ends-earth
Urry, Lisa A, et al. Campbell Biology. 11th ed., New York, Ny, Pearson Education, Inc, 2017.

[@yuvalne]

The birds at 12:30 are surprisingly chill about being held

[@advaithpillai]

Here's a question I've always had. How do birds that stay year round in scandinavian countries, Russia, Canada, adjust to the drastic shift in daylight hours from almost none in winter, to almost the entire day in summer???

[@MinuteEarth]

Obviously, the challenge is in the winter. Some birds can survive in the cold and dark so long as their food stays consistent - For example, some migratory birds (like hummingbirds and others) will skip migrating in cases where humans maintain feeders. Here's some more info about birds that winter in the North: www.allaboutbirds.org/news/how-do-birds-survive-the-winter/#

[@1224chrisng]

@@MinuteEarth one example of this is actually the Canada Goose. Historically, they'd migrate to follow their natural range, but these days, golf courses and parks are the same across the world

[@matthew8505]

They live in the lakes

[@pierrecurie]

@@matthew8505 *hibernate at the bottom of lakes

[@Ikajo]

At least in Sweden, there has been a tradition for a long time to leave food for the year round birds during the winter. Back in the day it was bundles of wheat from the harvest. Nowadays, it is common to use bird feeders. People also put up special balls of bird feed in the trees. Why? Because people like seeing them. The robin in particular is heavily associated with winter and Christmas. Growing up, I actually got to see woodpeckers because of this.

[@ascra1693]

Well done kids

[@heya4405]

???

[@HomieNukeMarkRealNoFake]

So many likes with only 2 replies,so sad

[@starryalien]

*pat pat*

[@corgimations]

😭

[@bubbWyrm]

Well done indeed

[@Arsenic71]

Birds are my favourite dinosaurs. They are beautiful, smart, entertaining, social, cute and some sing quite wonderful songs.

[@athinghere]

i ima

[@Sun-God2]

Birds are the most Beautiful Creatures of the Reptiles' Clade

[@Avianeyes]

Best archosaurs

[@akpsyche1299]

As an Alaskan, it’s super cool to see Alaskan birds and communities represented in a video from one of my favorite science education channels. Keep up the good work!

[@TOMINTOM-si8hd]

Alaska is like Ireland

[@phoebe_likes_everything3444]

Minute earth, I’ve watched your videos for years and I’m so happy and proud for how much your channel has grown.

[@arzt_glucke_dr_chickend]

Hello other chicken

[@phoebe_likes_everything3444]

Hello

[@Kryonyde]

It was only when I learned about the avian circular respiratory system and pneumatized skeleton that I realized how remarkably different they are from mammals.

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Those are also reason why dinosaurs could grow so big.

[@iansteelmatheson]

well... that's because they aren't closely related to mammals at all. they literally are reptiles with feathers. like, crocodiles are more closely related to birds than to lizards and snakes. we just think of them as being different because they look and behave suuuuper differently from other reptiles... and so we thought they were their own thing until relatively recently. nowadays, if scientists are talking about what most people consider to be "reptiles", they will say "non-avian reptiles".

[@lordgarion514]

@@iansteelmatheson Birds are literally NOT reptiles, at all. They are in fact dinosaurs that never went extinct. And *non-avian reptiles* isn't even a thing. It's *non-avian dinosaurs*

[@Sun-God2]

​@@lordgarion514birds are Dinosaurs and Dinosaurs are Archosaurs, and Archosaurs ARE Reptiles. So, Birds are Reptiles

[@theotheseaeagle]

@@lordgarion514 birds technically speaking are reptiles. If squamates and archosaurs (crocodiles as well as birds) are to be considered “reptiles” birds must also be considered “reptiles”. But then again there isn’t really such thing as a a “reptile”

[@karrotsrkool]

I worked on a bird tracker a bit over 5 years ago and I can't believe we didn't know about tracking position through the light sensor. The gps was half the board and took nearly all the power. We even had the light data and lots more data points to improve accuracy as position was just 1 thing it tracked. tldr students know more about bird tracking than pros in did 5 years ago XD

[@jer103]

2 things came up after watching this video: 1. When birds migrate, what is the mortality rate? Like ships traveling across to the other side of the planet, not all make it to their destination. Birds have to navigate weather, man-made obstacles like planes/hunters, and I can't imagine the kind of stress physically a migration takes on a birds body. I just wonder how many don't finish the journey, and why. 2. I see birds darting in front of my car, even at 70 miles per hour. I would have liked to know more about their brains, reflexes, physiology, and reaction times. I wonder this because birds aren't like small animals or insects, that die to vehicles more often. Bird's visual and reactive reflexes far surpass any drone A.I. or technology to keep them alive, and easily avoid things.

[@maia3940]

Hiiii soon-to-be ornithologist here (one more semester woo!) The mortality rate of birds during migration can be pretty high depending on the species and ESPECIALLY age of the bird. The very young/inexperienced and the old/weaker birds are more at risk, and sometimes if they aren’t strong enough they don’t migrate at all (in some species at least). Not migrating also can decrease survival probability but mostly it has an impact on breeding success (no migrating=no nesting=lower evolutionary fitness=bad for a species/bloodline). Once a young bird is better at finding food and finding a safe migration route it’s survivability drastically increases. Other factors like storms or plane strikes etc affect this, but those are less consistent factors. For your second question, I don’t know a whole lot about this but in general bird strikes are very common (even by cars) people just don’t notice a lot of the time because they don’t make much of a literal impact. However, there are less strikes than there could be because, as far as my understanding of it goes, birds actually perceive time at a different rate than us! The world seems to move a lot slower around them than it does for us (same for dogs, but curiously it’s the reverse for cats!) Hope I helped! :)

[@lordgarion514]

@@maia3940 It's the bird brain and eyes. Birds, at least smaller insect eating birds in England, have been tested. Human eyes/brains are completely fooled by a movie with 24 frames per second (not that we would see 23), whereas the birds can see well over 100 frames per second, I forget the exact number.

[@theotheseaeagle]

@@maia3940 I frequently see small songbirds dead on roads, as well as ducks and pheasants. I actually saw a mallard hen get ran over by a lorry on the way to school and it was flapping around for awhile, traumatic stuff Pheasants usually get hit by cars because they’re raised in captivity and then released for shooting so they don’t know how to avoid cars

[@laletemanolete]

Just to clarify, Pidgeoto is not real bird.

[@DimSum9685]

awwww..... ::puts pokeball away::

[@bird_obsession]

Unfortunately :p

[@FwogrealMSM]

@@DimSum9685 gabite go!

[@PaintedDog]

All "birds" aren't real

[@TheDumbTwin]

Maybe idk

[@crayonzii]

Amazing and very informative video! I’m 19 and passionate about nature, but even I learned new stuff today!

[@ventusleone]

Those kids must have worked hard! This was a great video! Thank you!

[@schoologylibrarybot4311]

Great video, I always love seeing you guys in my notification with your informational and entertaining! Kepp it up guys you're the best

[@holemajora598]

I have to say that I think it’s fantastic that you’ve had the idea to not only seek knowledge but drive to share that knowledge. I hope you all keep the love of knowledge and drive to make better the world you live in.

[@JohtoGen9]

Because of the soft feathers, I associate birds with mammals in my head a lot. It's crazy to think that they're most closely related to crocodiles.

[@mosab643]

I wonder how we would have perceived distance if we could fly and travel like these birds.

[@bird_obsession]

As someone who absolutely adores birds and everything avian, this video was really fun to watch. Thanks!

[@samwill7259]

There is nothing as inspiring as the lust for knowledge and wisdom that comes from the minds of children. They just want to know, and they ask the questions that so many of us are so used to that we forget to actually learn the answers for real. Ask questions about your world the way a child would, and you'll learn something new every day

[@SoulDelSol]

Curiosity and desire for knowledge has nothing to do with children. I think that's odd for an adult to not continually want to learn more about world around us

[@Blackadder75]

@@SoulDelSol many adults get stuck in struggle for daily life, and don't have the energy anymore to be curious. You need two conditions: A) a good work-life balance and B) no worries about the necessities of life

[@SoulDelSol]

@@Blackadder75 i understand what you're saying. But i think about universe, time, space, relativity, evolution, microbes, subatomic particles, sensation, biology, consciousness, etc when I'm in shower before work, during my commute to work, and on lunch break. Assuming people shower and eat lunch they have time to be curious. It doesn't take more than a few minutes here and there whilst doing something else that needs to be done. For example if you're mowing your lawn you are free to think, if you're cleaning your home, if you're waiting in line at market, etc. None of that is someone who isn't also focused on necessities of life nor does it require balance (although that would be ideal). It's not self actualizing (top of hierarchy of needs) but rather just 2 minutes of quiet reflection. Everyone has 2 minutes. In fact I'm sure many of these people are spending a lot more than that drinking alcohol, on fb, or watching reality tv etc

[@aggrotits.thunderbelch]

Thanks for sharing this with us, kids! It was so interesting and I learned stuff about birds I never even thought about before. keep up your great work and please share what you find out!

[@aezravito9717]

This is by far the most realistic animation. The plane part is so realistic.

[@marloelefant7500]

I didn't knew that Pidgeotto is an Alaskan bird.6:40

[@snowyforest6058]

2:35 I didn't know they have 2 sacks! Great vid MinuteEarth and great job to those kids.

[@GriffWild]

That was excellent. The part about how the light detector, clock, and tracker to map routes and speed could be its own video.

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

this gives me a lot of empathy for birds

[@nicksamek12]

Smart kids! Thanks for working with them to make this.

[@wiebimon9579]

I absolutely loved this video. Thank you so much.

[@rudraprasad8934]

That was the most amazing video that minute earth ever made. Loved it

[@thomaspc0]

Wow, I really enjoyed the first video about bird anatomy. I didn't know most of that.

[@jacksim5759]

6:21 that "thanks to skills.." almost activated my ad-skipping reflexes lmao. anyways fun video, minute earth

[@iagocasabiellgonzalez7807]

Best video to date. Thank you!

[@fernandon3926]

thank you so much, MinuteEarth.

[@EmanuelsWorkbench]

Great job! I loved the video!

[@I4get42]

This is Awesome 😍 I love us humans soo much, and we are at our best when we are sharing our knowledge and learning from others today and folks who came before us. Thanks for the great video 😀

[@WAMTAT]

Awesome. So inspiring

[@boy638]

I hope this video takes off.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

I see what you did there.

[@Shxealyn]

❤️ I love the videos you guys make ❤️

[@jasperflynn202]

The pidgeotto made this even better

[@baronvonbeandip]

woah woah woah You assume that you can tell me all I want to know about birds, especially without speaking bird? What a grand and intoxicating innocence.

[@Hecarim_selfish_horse]

As a student bug thanks to you all:) it was collest biology lesson i have had in my life

[@davialmeida4442]

0:42 That little man has a Naruto jacket. I respect him

[@randomperson8663]

Awesome!!! Thanks for amazing facts kids!! 👏👏👏👏👍👍👍❤️❤️

[@NullNoxproduction]

Great job, and congratulations 🎊

[@wangshiyao]

11:13 How did pidgeotto end up in South America?

[@hammerhand9449]

Bird Fact! There's a bird that is native just to the Sierra Nevada called the mountain chickadee or Poeceli Gambeli and its amazing because its song sounds just like cheese burger

[@Dragrath1]

Are you sure its *exclusive* to there? Looking at the listed year round range they appear to have colonized a number of of the mountain systems through western North America well beyond the Sierra Nevada microplate. They are definitely amazing birds but don't count those dees short. :)

[@ericgraham5201]

I had mountain chickadees at the grand canyon.

[@Real_LeCHL]

4:25 Is that supposed to be a yoyleberry from BFDI?

[@MinecraftPanda8]

wow what an amazing video!

[@jujuoof174]

Bird are sooo cute

[@enrique.ortizvidal]

Nice initiative. Thanks for sharing

[@zaqw1111]

0:41 That Naruto/Sasuke hoodie goes hard

[@LokiAndLoiDontGiveADamn]

6:09 I love the Magneto helmet here lol 🧲

[@Wizard_Pepsi]

Imagine a recording of the Great Snipe's migration from the 1st person perspective.

[@pagox]

These drawings are absolutely hilarious! :D

[@PTAdnan]

Niiiceee these kids are so creative, innovative, and excellent ❤️❤️

[@edwardsimpson119]

1:37 Behold, a man! 6:03 That sounds pretty Mag-Neato! 7:01 And a mysterious tendency to suddenly appear every time you are near...

[@sedrah11]

5:20 the cats: hey I got a question for you I sleep the opposite way

[@artemis6985]

I never experienced snow before, but what do insects do when winter comes? Do they also migrate?

[@osmia]

Thanks students of Tebughna School :)

[@Apocalymon]

That's a sweet idea

[@madnessarcade7447]

Would love a whole video about Pokémon and their real life counterparts

[@softyzz69]

The Magneto helmet was quite jovial

[@snowmoth865]

I am getting nostalgia i haven't watched minute earth of a while now

[@chilldogs1881]

That is so wholesome

[@manooxi327]

Wholesome

[@MySerpentine]

LOL 'When the car got stuck in the snow' Yup, that's the North for ya.

[@user-ez9ex8hx6v]

Yes got that thank you

[@rogerszmodis6913]

A bunch of Canada geese hang out in my yard during their migrations and for the last few years there’s one that’s really curious and comes up on the deck when I’m out there and will even take food out of my hand. I don’t know how it hasn’t learned that going up to random humans is an extremely bad idea. I wouldn’t hurt them but people are pretty uncool. I don’t feed it regularly when they are here but it’s been up with me a couple times this spring and fall when I was doing fish on the bbq and I gave it a little piece each time. It had already been coming onto the deck for a couple years by then so I don’t think it will become dependant.

[@thehiddenninja3428]

I find it hard to believe that the idea that birds fly away to somewhere warmer during winter was that hard to believe

[@profh3t323]

Very cool

[@RobotShield]

A question that’s been puzzling me, if birds bones are hollow how much space is left for bone marrow?

[@PiercePlikett]

For the Thumbnail: "Behold Plato's man!" (Diogenes, The Cynic) LOL

[@atheistpower5659]

I learned every thing I know about bird Law from the great Charlie Reynolds of Philadelphia from the care of their teeth to fighting like the crow .

[@donflymoor2767]

Ah interesting fact is that birds don't have hollow bones, in fact they have denser bones then other small animals such as mice. They need strong bones to deal with all the forces of flight, and a broken wing means almost certain death.

[@KnowArt]

I had a pretty extraordinary school, but making videos with MinuteEarth?! pfff, lucky kids!

[@icantthinkofaname8139]

Yay! I love birds!

[@newcantinacrispychickentac7754]

You spelled drones wrong

[@micahbirdlover8152]

me too😊

[@Erica-nf2tj]

9:41 Why are Caitlin and Vi catching birds

[@somsomi7215]

I NOTICED PIDGEOTTO AT 11:17 !! idk why im so proud i could be wrong xD

[@T.A.J_group]

can you please tell me how do you edit your videos

[@XenoTechnian]

Alaska is my home state!

[@secretunknown2782]

Alaska is the exile state

[@fenrirgg]

I see you were tracking birds in Kanto.

[@darthparallax5207]

I'm happy the actual video is serious and helpful but still sad the comments section are not more memes about birds about birds not being real

[@mudgeon4749]

cool!

[@teainnit27]

Man, those kids wrote a banger of an episode.

[@steernaught]

7:30 Oh so that’s why they’re called barnacle geese, interesting!

[@TizonaAmanthia]

dude! I WENT to to UMASS Amherst! albeit only for one semester, but still, neet!

[@santoast24]

My FAVORITE part about this episode is how it bumbles and rambles around and away Like, oh, it makes sense that birds need lots of air to fly, how does that woooooork??? Oh your gonnna tell me? Lets goooooooooooo OH AND your gonna talk about how the heart works in a bird???? I wasnt thinking about that, but I SURE AM NOW and OH OH OH Love it, cant wait till y'all do this for..... every topic.... ever

[@tylerdurdin8069]

I'm surprised, you talked about Snipes but you didn't talk about snipe hunting.

[@Corruptedhope]

*the things that minuteearth do for our planet*

[@myozeka]

The birds are so cutely drawn 🥰🥰🥰

[@tptacos]

Carl, I found the snipe! 10:23

[@kafuuchino3236]

Excellent video, but the title is a lie - I now want to know even more about birds!

[@EClaire.1073]

Is no one talking about how the scientists at 10:00 are clearly Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane

[@fanstargateiloveuniverse]

Can you do a video about biological Systematics? What is it looked like twohundred years ago and now, when we have dna? were there any changes in the table with the new evidences? I don't know, maybe a bird in some group is now belong to a totally different group or something....

[@DarkStar-nw8ee]

This video was originally called something like "Everything we know about birds", and personally I think the new title fits in line with all the other explanation videos you guys have made, so why not just name it this in the first place?

[@pickleyeet8844]

If you enjoyed this I highly recommend the book A World on the Wing

[@seansingh4421]

I also happen to know a lot about bird law

[@gabekesler3590]

Second video was nearly a word for copy of one of your previous videos not sure about the other two I’m gonna go investigate that

[@androkguz]

Here is an idea: 1- Find and capture a talking Meowth 2- Find and capture a Pidgey or Pidgeotto 3- Have the Meawth ask the Pidgey/Pidgeotto how their species migrate and have the Meawth tell you I mean I don't really get why we are paying this scientists when their work is so trivial

[@iamgreatalwaysgreat8209]

Smh, talking Meowth working for a organized criminal association a myth.

[@Damond_Warrior]

Do a video on kiwis and other ratites anatomies ect

[@tomcarlosimborio7528]

11:19 is that Pidgeotto in South America? 😁

[@JayPh5th]

not sure if this is the final thumbnail, but BEHOLD! a MAN