ON THE MOVE

Birds approach the challenges of migration in surprising ways. Learn about how they walk, swim or take the scenic route during their travels.

- KENN AND KIMBERLY KAUFMAN

SOUTHBOUND

Common murres are permanent residents in some areas, but some are forced to travel south in the winter when the water near their coastal colonies freezes.

AUTUMN IS MIGRATION SEASON. All over North America and beyond, hundreds of millions of birds are on the move, traveling from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. But they don't all travel in the same ways. Some migrate in flocks and some alone; certain birds move at night, others by day; some travel more than halfway around the globe, while certain birds shift only a few miles to a slightly different habitat. There are almost as many approaches as there are species of migratory birds. Here are just a few migration variations.

Wintering Within Walking Distance

Spruce grouse in northern forests have some of the easiest migrations imaginable. Individuals have summer and winter territories that are usually less than 10 miles apart, so they migrate by walking early in the morning-going perhaps half a mile per day - and then resting. In mountains of the West, dusky grouse are also short-distance travelers. They migrate partly by walking and partly by flying, and they often move to areas of denser forest in higher elevations to spend the winter.

Swimming to New Waters