© Darlene DeemertAn ash-throated flycatcher is shown in a Barrie backyard Nov. 18.
If you were a bird, you may want to consider flying south in October and not returning to our area until next May. Many human snowbirds do just that. Many birds migrate south to warmer climates for winter, then return in the spring, but some seed-eating birds tough out the winter with us.
There is a family of birds called flycatchers that survives by hawking flying insects out of the air in mid-flight. There are not many insects flying around in winter, so a flycatcher that tried to overwinter instead of migrate would have little chance of survival.
Flycatchers mainly eat insects and other invertebrates, but also fruit.
One of the largest and most common species of flycatcher that nests in our area in summer is the great-crested flycatcher. It is a member of the Myiarchus genus and the second-largest flycatcher in our area, slightly smaller than the eastern kingbird. Great-crested flycatchers leave our area in late summer and early fall to fly south to southern Central America or northern South America.
There are few records of this species staying around in late fall or winter in our area.
Comment: Maybe some change in the planet's environment is interfering with this bird's ability to correctly utilise the Earth's magnetic field to navigate by? See also this:
Animal Magnetism: How the magnetic field influences animal navigationExtract -
Human impacts on the Earth's magnetic field
Humans have an impact on so many aspects of the earth's ecology. While wrangling with the magnetic field might seem like an activity that is out of our reach, human-induced electromagnetic noise could be a concern for migrating animals.
In a 2014 study published in the journal Nature, laboratory studies on robins showed birds that were exposed to background electromagnetic noise had trouble discerning which way was south.
While other studies have not seen the same impact from everyday background noise, it's prudent to be aware that human-induced electromagnetic disturbances could have an impact on some animals' highly-tuned sensory systems.
Then again, perhaps any magnetic changes of a natural kind may also play a role?
Earth's magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster now
Comment: Maybe some change in the planet's environment is interfering with this bird's ability to correctly utilise the Earth's magnetic field to navigate by? See also this: Animal Magnetism: How the magnetic field influences animal navigation
Extract - Then again, perhaps any magnetic changes of a natural kind may also play a role? Earth's magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster now