Slashdot Mirror
Birds Fled Area Before Tornadoes Appeared
SternisheFan sends a report from scientists who were tracking a group of birds — golden-winged warblers — in the Appalachian mountains. Just a few days after the birds completed their seasonal migration, they did something odd — they picked up and moved again. Shortly thereafter, a series of storms swept through that area of the U.S., which led to a destructive tornado outbreak (abstract).
After the storm had blown over, the team recaptured five of the warblers and removed the geolocators. These are tiny devices weighing about half a gram, which measure light levels. Based on the timing and length of the days they record, these gadgets allow scientists to calculate and track the approximate location of migratory birds. In this case, all five indicated that the birds had taken unprecedented evasive action, beginning one to two days ahead of the storm's arrival. "The warblers in our study flew at least 1,500km (932 miles) in total," Dr. Streby said. They escaped just south of the tornadoes' path — and then went straight home again. By 2 May, all five were back in their nesting area."
...what ruffled THEIR feathers?
Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
Guess what, humans are essentially the only ones who can't tell when bad weather is coming.
And we're also the only ones that can understand the weather forecast on TV.
According to the Additive Noise Model, the birds didn't avoid the storm. They caused it.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
It's like the butterfly effect but with birds!
Must have been bird Twitter.