> To make this bird related does anyone have any idea what birds do
> during a hurricane? Do they have survival instincts which can help
them
> through severe weather situations?

Tweets,

Yvonne's question is much more complicated than it might seem,
because there are many kinds of birds, many kinds of hurricanes, and
many different conditions within a hurricane and along its route.
However, having been literally at ground-zero for Hurricane Andrew in s.
Fla. in 1992, and having lived through many other hurricanes as a birder
(beginning with Carol in 1954), I can give an informed answer at least
for resident landbirds.

When literally every tree and bush is destroyed for miles around,
resident landbirds nevertheless do largely survive, at least the storm
itself. Although leaves blow away, the woody vegetation in essence
forms a monster brushpile, and this seems to protect many birds from
direct and immediate mortality. After Andrew, we saw a few dead birds
like grackles and starlings, and more dazed or injured, but surprisingly
many birds do make it through the storm itself, apparently by holding
tight and low (like we did!).

Their problem then often is survival, because their food sources may
have been destroyed, especially those depending on fruit or nectar.
Those birds then seem to wander considerable distances, and probably
many do not survive in the long run. Others are impacted long-term
because their nesting or roosting environment may have been destroyed.
So, post-hurricane displacement is a significant factor in local bird
populations. In s. Fla., for example, Fish Crows vacated the
southernmost 30 miles or so of their range after Andrew, probably
because of loss of nesting habitat. Naturalised parrots hung on for a
while, but either moved or starved. After Hurricane Gilbert devastated
Jamaica about a decade ago, many birds were found at much lower
elevations than usual, largely because their normal resources were gone.

The widespread notion that hurricanes blow birds from here to there
often is nonsense, for birds in general cannot survive the trip. There
are exceptions, mainly for marine birds and sometimes for migrants.
These may be able to be pushed by the weaker fringes of the storm, or
they may be able to take off when the eye of the storm passes over, then
travel great distances within the eye and land somewhere else. But
these exceptions pertain to a relatively small percentage of all the
birds that the storm's path will intersect. No bird is likely to
survive in the air in 150 mph winds!
------------------------------------------------------------
P W (Bill) Smith
Grays Harbor, Washington USA
birdman at techline.com


----- Original Message -----
From: <ravenn at premier1.net>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 1999 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: For those with inquiring minds - Hurricane Floyd


> Roger,
> The images of Hurricane Floyd were great. Thanks. We dropped my
> daughter off for college in Savannah Ga and left on Monday.We arrived
> home at 12 noon and at 5:00 she informed us they were being evacuated.
> On Tuesday they finally made it to Macon after seven plus hours on the
> road and then stayed at a shelter there. Today she called us to say
she
> was back at her dorm. It has been a wild few days for us.
>
> Yvonne Bombardier
> Everett, Wa
> ravenn at premier1.net
>