Well, it looks like Spring has finally arrived, so long as we’re done with sudden bouts of cold and snow (knock on wood!). So, this episode of the Perpetual Notion Machine welcomes back the birds of Spring! PNM producer Lincoln Tice talks with ornithologist Anna Pidgeon from UW-Madison’s forest and wildlife ecology. She discusses some of the variations that different bird species have during the breeding season. But she also goes into some detail about those birds who migrate north from wintering habitat further south, some as far away as South America. Anna mentions what triggers migration, the cues birds follow during migration, and the challenges of newly hatched birds on their first migration. And she goes into the challenges migrating birds have when sudden cold weather and snow occurs, like we had a few weeks ago in Madison.

Anna is one of the leading researchers in the SILVIS Lab in the Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.
For more information about birds, birding, and bird watching, check out the Madison Audubon Society, the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, and the American Birding Association. Also, check out the city of Madison Parks Department for a list of bird and nature outings.