It is estimated that about 50,000 million birds leave their breeding range each year and migrate to warmer latitudes. The reason for your trip is not the winter cold, but the shortage of food. In Central and Northern Europe, a good part of the native birds undertake their migration towards North Africa in search of insects and other food sources that they are unable to find there.
However, it is not a peaceful holiday in the mild African sun, but a daily fight with the local birds with whom they share food. For this reason, although the return in spring supposes enormous wear on the birds, it is worth returning to their breeding places for the mere fact that there the competition for food is less demanding: the days are longer, the insects more abundant and the chances of survival much greater.
But climate change is revolutionizing everything and for many species the new trend is quite different. More and more birds are choosing to remain in their territories even at the risk of not surviving. The prize is worth it: to be the first to occupy the breeding territories. A significant case is that of storks, which with increasing frequency can be seen parading through the snowy landscapes of Poland and Germany. Climate change has softened the temperatures making your stay bearable thanks to the sufficient presence of insects.
Furthermore, as a consequence of this general rise in temperatures, the birds that continue to migrate have changed their flight charts, now choosing much shorter trips. Thus, England has become the new Spain for a growing number of Central European warblers, as well as for many cranes, who prefer to stay halfway and not continue their journey to the Iberian Peninsula.
Therefore, the observation of the migration patterns of birds provides us with good information on the effects of climate change on ecosystems and on the behavior of many species. In Spain we have a privileged place from which to observe this phenomenon: the Strait of Gibraltar.
(Photo: Jose Antonio Lapeña Sarrias)
