What Happens to Birds During Hurricanes

[  Intro  ] The 2017 hurricane season sure packed a wallop. Three major storms -- Harvey, Irma, and Maria
-- decimated the Caribbean and the southern US. While the focus has rightfully been on the
impacts to those living in the storms path, you might wonder how other creatures fared. Some species seem to be able to sense the
impending danger and flee.

Landlubbers like us that dont get out of
the way just have to hunker down as best they can. But birds and other airborne animals sometimes
do what sounds like the worst idea ever: they ride things out in the eye of the storm. Meteorologists have witnessed this thanks
to something called dual-polarization or dual-pol radar, which uses pulses of electromagnetic
waves to detect the size and shape of objects in two dimensions. Based on the pattern of the waves, they can
see the proportions of whatevers in the storm  including birds and insects, which
stand out because theyre much less spherical than, say, a raindrop.

And when meteorologists map out what theyve
detected with radar, they often find a bunch of animals inside the eyes of big storms. Heading into a hurricane for safety sounds
pretty bold  and ill-advised. But within the eye, the weather is calm. Its a spot of extremely low pressure, which
helps drive the overall storm, but isnt very windy itself.

It doesnt even have clouds, since the air
in the eye is about 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the storm, and it can hold more
water before condensing. So, all things considered, its relatively
safe for birds and bugs. Not that its an intentional strategy on
their partthey probably dont plan this out. Either the eye forms around them, or they
just happen to find the eye and then end up kinda stuck there.

This especially happens with seabirds. The real danger is running into the eyewall,
the vertical wall of clouds that surrounds the eye, which is the most intense part of
the storm. It has the heaviest rainfall and strongest
winds. Sticking to the eye can work, but it can be
tough to make it through if a hurricane is especially long-lived.

Trapped birds dont have much choice but
to keep flappingthey cant really stop to sleep or eatso this kind of travel can
wear them out. Sometimes they die. And since, you know, a hurricane swept through
their habitat, there may not be much left to come home to. Or, if theyre migratory birds, they can
be blown hundreds of kilometers off course.

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma deposited a flock
of North American chimney swifts in Western Europe. More than 700 of the birds died, and ornithologists
found that the following year, the total population had been cut in half. It can be hard to collect good data on what
happens to birds during and after a storm, as each hurricane is different. But birdwatchers can help with that.

Safety first, obviously, but if you ever see
hurricane birdsspecies well outside of their usual homes during or after a stormyou
can report your observations so scientists can learn more about how animals deal with
tropical cyclones. Its one of the more unusual types of citizen
science. Thanks for asking, and thanks as always to
all our patrons on Patreon. Your support helps us weather any storm.

If you want to help us make more episodes
like this, you can go to patreon.Com/scishow. [  Outro  ].