Blog #355 Autumn Means Migration for Ospreys!
Juvenile Osprey playing at Salt Point just before migrating, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. Autumn in the Eastern U.S. is a restless time of year for wildlife and especially birds. Reports of incredible endurance and distances traveled during wildlife migrations range monarch butterflies, elk, humpback whales, American eels, Atlantic salmon, menhaden, and striped bass. Birds are famous for their migration feats and global travels, notably shorebirds like the Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot, and Artic Tern, and long-distant raptors such as Broad-winged, Sharp-shinned, and Red-tailed Hawk, and the Osprey. Lilibit, calmly sitting, prior to her being overcome with zugunruhe, courtesy of Karel and Cindy Sedlacek. In autumn, migratory birds and other animals succumb to zugunruhe , a German word describing the intense “migratory restlessness period.” Zugunruhe is the internal cue that signals seasonal migrations; it causes the uncontro...