How are birds classified?
In order for scientists to be able to understand each other no matter what language they speak they have an international way of naming living organisms. The scientific names are written in a language called Latin.
      This system of classification was established by Carl Linneaus in the 1750's when he described many North American birds. Learn more about the science of naming things, "Taxonomy".
Explore the Tree of Life from the University of Arizona.

Permanent residents, are non-migrating birds who remain in their home area all year round.

Summer residents are migratory birds move north in the spring, nest during the summer, and return south in the fall.

Winter residents are migratory birds who fly south for the winter.

Transients are migratory species who nest farther north than our neighborhoods, but who winter farther south.We only see transients as they are passing through.

Where do birds go?
     Many species migrate very long distances. The most common pattern is that birds migrate to the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere to breed in the summer and migrate south to warmer regions, for the winter. often in the tropics or the temperate zones of the southern hemisphere.

Flyways
     There are 4 main Flyways, or routes, in North America that most migratory birds follow between their summer and winter residences.
     They follow certain established migratory routes and pass through at predictable times. These routes tend to avoid land forms that might block their way, such as mountains, or water.
      For soaring birds, such as ospreys, eagles, vultures, and hawks these routes follow paths that take them by hot air rising from land that they need to soar. By spiralling up a thermal and gliding down to the next one, they save energy needed for long journeys.

How do birds find their way?
      Navigation is complicated because it requires three things: birds must know their current location, their destination and the direction they must take to get there.
      Some birds use the sun, the stars to navigate. Some also use the sighting of landmarks like rivers, mountains or coastlines. Some might use smell, while some might follow other birds in the flock.

Some even monitor the Earth's magnetic field using their visual system and with tiny grains of a iron-containing mineral called magnetite in their heads, that might act like a compass.
Not all is known about how birds find their way but they probably use more then one method.
Study navigation... and Orientation.

How fast do birds fly? Speed ranges from 20 to 50 miles per hour. Larger birds fly faster than smaller birds. If the flock flies for 10 hours a day, then they could fly about 400 miles a day!!!

How high do birds fly? Radar studies show that most flight occurs at less than 10,000 ft, but some have been recorded flying at 27,000 ft!! Birds on long-distance migrations fly at higher altitudes than short-distance migrants.

What are the dangers of migration?

     Sometimes birds must fly across harsh habitats such as deserts, where there is little water, or oceans, where there is no place to land and little food to eat. Sometimes stormy weather may make the trip difficult. There can be many predators along the migration route.

     Bird banding or ringing is one method used to study wild birds. Scientists attach a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring to a bird's legs or wings. They also use mist nests as a way to capture birds. This way they can capture and re-capture the same individual and measure and weigh it and gather other important information .

Here are excellent photos of that process.

     Sometimes scientists use satellite tracking for follow birds on their migration routes.

Birdwatching is the second largest hobby (gardening is the first) in North America with over 31 million participants. Start watching here...Internet Bird Collection , an on-line audiovisual library of footage of the world's birds.

Study bird behavior in your own backyard...