Why do birds fly south?
You certainly know that while it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The flocks of birds fly towards the warmer climates to obtain food and to multiply, in this particular case the birds fly towards the North. While it is cold (winter)in the Northern Hemisphere it is hot (summer) in the Southern Hemisphere. The birds fly towards the South for the same purposes mentioned above. These are called migrating bird species, reason why a certain rare species from Brazil may be found in the USA during summer. This migration begins before Spring where it will be hot. Regards.
They follow the food! While many of our birds do fly south for the winter, some hang around. Those that eat insects have to migrate, because there aren’t a lot of insects around here in the winter. Those that eat berries and seeds can stay and enjoy the fruit produced by native plants (and, of course, the seed in your bird feeders). Those that stay include crows, robins, some bluebirds, woodpeckers and many sparrows. Other birds, including quite a few species of waterfowl and some finches, spend their summers much further north, and they spend the winter in our area. Waterfowl such as Brant (a small goose) and Scaup (a gray and black duck) fly south until they find open, un-frozen water, where they winter in protected bays along the coast. They eat eelgrass in the shallow water – again, they follow the food. Next time you drive over a bridge near the coast, look for large flocks in quiet coves. The finches, too, follow the food. If fir trees in the far north fail to produce large crops
