When flying thousands of miles, birds often make pitstops to recharge on food and energy.
New research shows that the birds making these twice-yearly journeys may be doing more than filling their bellies and resting their wings: Their immune systems may need a boost to keep the birds from succumbing to disease or infection.
“These birds basically run 100 marathons — they are super athletes,” says Cas Eikenaar, an ecologist at the Institute of Avian Research in northern Germany. “They make stopovers sometimes to recover, and not just to refuel.”
Researchers have been studying various components about migration for years, including the amount of fitness and fuel it takes to fly so far.
In some cases, researchers don’t even know basic facts such as where species spend winter or summer every year, or the trajectory they take to make these journeys.
Eikenaar studies the physiological components of bird migration. Curious ...
