no boundaries for BLUE FEATHERS

World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated on 15 May and 14 October. This month we wish the European Roller well on its difficult journey to its northern breeding grounds, including Ukraine and Russia.

- ALAN LEE

Remember that European Roller you saw this summer? It may have been only a few months old. Its story may have begun in Ukraine, or Russia, only six months earlier in a cavity in an old oak tree, surrounded by fields of unharvested wheat. After it hatched, within a week or two its distinctive blue feathers would have started to shine through. Over the following weeks it would have learnt to fly and hunt against a backdrop of thunder and smoke. As the days grew shorter, young rollers from Spain to China would have begun to feel restless – time to embark on their first migration to Africa, a journey of thousands of kilometres that would test their endurance and navigational skills. Many would not survive.