![]() And the more locusts you add, you'll hit a point where suddenly all of them just start lining up and forming this very cohesive, aligned marching army. But if you continue to add them, what you'll see is small clusters starting to form where the locusts start to line up with each other. YONG: So if you take a bunch of locusts and put them in a box, they will face any which - all sorts of different directions. Nice to have you with us today.ĬONAN: So what happens to transform a bunch of individual bugs into a swarm of locusts? He joins us now by Skype from his home in London. His piece "How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future" ran in the March issue of Wired magazine. Why do they do it? How? Telepathy? Now technology is revolutionizing the way researchers can track, visualize and even create swarms, and what they're finding will make you go wow.Įd Yong is a freelance science writer, who, luckily for us, covers the wow beat. That's called collective behavior and it fascinated and baffled scientists. We've all seen a flock of birds shift direction instantaneously mid-flight, or a school of fish swirl in what looked like tightly choreographed maneuvers. Seeing and hearing them should remind us that for thousands of years these birds have made their way across the earth in ways we'll probably never fully understand.įor more information about birds and bird habitat, see Sharon Sorenson's books "How Birds Behave," "Birds in the Yard Month by Month," and "Planting Native to Attract Birds to Your Yard." Check her website at birdsintheyard.This is TALK OF THE NATION. ![]() Readily recognizable, these various flocks write a story across the sky, a story of magnificent migration, remarkable endurance, almost miraculous behavior. Recently reintroduced trumpeters, on the other hand, breed across northern Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota - a relatively short migration from the Tri-State. Tundras have the farthest to go - well into the high Arctic. These birds, too, are beginning the return home. Several hundred swans, both trumpeter and tundra, overwintered here, especially at Gibson County's Cane Ridge and Henderson County's Sauerheber. These are, after all, sizeable birds, weighing up to 20 pounds, with powerful wingspans up to nine feet. In their breeding range they seek out isolated islands in wetlands or shallow lakes mostly across the Dakotas, Montana, and into Canada.įlocks sailing over Tri-State skies now display their usual flight behavior, not a direct flight forward, but a progressive circling as they seek thermals to aid their migration. Since pelicans don't reach breeding age for several years, they tend to hang out year-round in favored areas until the time is right to migrate westward. Unlike salt water-loving brown pelicans that dive for their dinners, fresh water-loving white pelicans team up to corral their prey and then scoop up dinner. Both sites offer sandbars for daily loafing and shallow waters for scoop-fishing. Food and dining: La Campirana is expanding in Evansville: Pastry shop, bar location and food truckĪmerican white pelicans overwinter in several favored spots across the Tri-State, including Kentucky's Lake Barkley and Greene County's Goose Pond.
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