A question about sea birds... - Democratic Underground

Demoiselle

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Mon Aug-29-11 05:00 PM
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A question about sea birds...

Where do they shelter during a windstorm/hurricane?
Watching the coverage of Irene's travels in the last few days, I saw seagulls doing their usual gawky thing on the beach and I frequently wanted to shout "Get OUT of there!!!" to them.
I assume that inland birds may have more brush, bushes, low cover to hide away in...but the seabirds don't have much cover on the beach...
I'd love to hear some answers from nature buffs.

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RushIsRot

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Mon Aug-29-11 05:28 PM
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1. Shorebirds leave the beaches and move inland.

Some birds are picked up by the storm system and carried long distances. They become trapped in the calm eye by the towering, fierce storms. The eye of the storm, in effect, becomes a bird cage until the hurricane begins to fizzle and birds can escape. It is the eye of the storm that displaces birds, not the strong winds. These displaced birds, known as “Hurricane Birds,” present rare opportunities for birders who keep a list of the birds they see. “Listers” can check off birds on their lifelist they normally wouldn’t see, such as pelagic (ocean-going) birds blown ashore.

http://www.birding.com/hurricanes.asp

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Demoiselle

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Mon Aug-29-11 07:16 PM
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4. Thank you, Rush, Xema and Trof...

It's good to know they have the sense (some of them, anyway) to travel a distance away from trouble.
I've seen seagulls flying over the parking lot of a supermarket here in Philadelphia...I've often wondered if they followed trucks full of seafood from the Jersey Shore..

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trof

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Mon Aug-29-11 05:51 PM
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2. They come here.

Wolf Bay in coastal Alabama.
I live here, about 15 miles north of the coast.
When there's bad weather coming in the gulf we get a lot of gulls and pelicans.

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XemaSab

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Mon Aug-29-11 07:05 PM
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3. A lot of them move inland

a lot of them weather out the storm at sea.

And yes, a lot of them die.

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