How birds travel thousands of miles every year - CrowdScience, BBC World Service Podcast

Video Description

Why do animals bother making such long and precarious migratory voyages? Is the lure of an arctic spring feast worth crossing an ocean for? Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM Why animals migrate - part 1 of a two-part CrowdScience investigation. Wherever you are in the world, you are probably near an animal that has undertaken a remarkable migratory journey, be that a butterfly, bird or sea turtle. But what CrowdScience listener Moses in Kenya wants to know is, why they bother making such long and precarious voyages - and how they're able to reliably navigate over hundreds and sometimes even thousands of miles. In this first of two episodes, presenter Anand Jagatia travels to the Americas to meet the scientists finding and tracking these animals in order to solve the puzzle of where they go and why. Deep in the lush and noisy Belizean jungle, Anand joins avian biologist Abidas who is collecting data on the beautiful birds that visit tropical forests to escape harsh winters. Here, using misting nets, Abidas and her team carefully catch birds to measure their health and status before tagging and releasing them so they can continue stocking up on jungle food. Anand finds out why having long term data on migrant birds can help in understanding why some birds, like the wood thrush, have been declining in their native homes further north. Anand then jumps aboard a turtle boat in Florida where scientists from the Sea Turtle Conservancy have been collecting data on these dinosaur-like creatures. But finding them is harder it might seem. They move fast, so Anand accompanies the research team who are experienced in safely catching them, will he be lucky and find one of these magnificent creatures? Presented by Anand Jagatia and produced by Melanie Brown Contributors: David Barrie – Navigator & author Tim Guilford – University of Oxford Abidas Ash – University of Belize Kristen Ruegg – Colorado State University David Godfrey – Sea Turtle Conservancy Listen/Download: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1pry ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #CrowdScience #Science #Migration #Animals #Birds