Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Migrating Swifts

Swifts migrate from Central America to Canada every fall (and then back again in the spring). Along the way they have favorite "hotels" where they all gather to sleep. In a funnel flight, they all, amazingly, end up in a chimney or some other small cave like structure. They are very reliable -- they tend to return to the same places year after year. For the nightly rest, they start out as a small group...

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Their numbers build...

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Until they have all arrived. And then they begin to funnel into the "hotel."

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They entire event takes about an hour. It is amazing how captivating it is.

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