A recent study by scientists at York University has shown that songbirds adhere to a strict schedule when migrating. The team, lead by Kefin Frazer, a postdoctoral Fellow at York Univeristy, observed that birds headed north from the tropics at the same time each year, give or take a couple of days. The observed that male birds flew faster than female birds and those that had travelled the route before flew faster than those travelling the route for the first time.
The study resuts raise concerns about the effects of global warming. With changing climate conditions, birds may need to alter the timing of their migration to account for food availability along the route. If birds are inflexible in their departure dates, they may suffer declines due to lack of food or poor weather conditions.
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