Sandy Denny sang. “Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving. But how can they know, it’s time for them to go?” Through science we know that birds are more in tune with the planet than we are. Bird migration in the fall is prompted by dwindling light, diminishing food sources, falling temperatures and cosmognosis. Cosmognosis is defined as the natural instinct that tells a bird to migrate. They plot their course based on the sun, the stars, and Earth’s magnetic fields. A bird’s path southward is fraught with danger. Traveling stress, lack of food, window strikes, tall buildings and lights on at night cause many bird deaths. Once they get to their wintering grounds there’s no guarantee of safety. I cringe with every report on the Amazon rain forest burning, knowing my Purple Martins are in Brazil. To help birds on their migration keep your feeders filled, leave your yard a mess and turn off your outside lights. By not ‘cleaning up’ your yard the birds will find seed heads, insects and fruit in the detritus of dying plants all winter long. And those fallen leaves; let them be. Nothing proves Man’s disconnect with nature more than by using a noisy polluting leaf blower to move leaves.
