Migrating songbirds learn survival tips on the fly

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Worm-eating warblers breed in North America but winter in Central America. While migrating they frequently inspect mobs of local winged residents Queens University biologists discovered.Credit: Joseph Nocera
Worm-eating warblers breed in North America, but winter in Central America. While migrating, they frequently inspect "mobs" of local winged residents, Queen's University biologists discovered.Credit: Joseph Nocera

Migrating songbirds take their survival cues from local winged residents when flying through unfamiliar territory, a new Queen's University-led study shows. It's a case of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," says biologist Joseph Nocera, who conducted the research while working as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen's under the supervision of Biology professor Laurene Ratcliffe.


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