Getting Warmer/How Animal Repond | News

Weather looks to be dry for much of this week as temperatures rise as we head toward the weekend. Temps today will be at or a little above normal. We have a forecast high of 88. Pretty much the same for Tuesday.

A ridge should remain intact over the southeast allowing the sunshine to stick around through roughly Thursday. A front is forecast to move into our area bring a chance for precipitation going into the Friday. Also look for temperatures to begin to warm up, low 90s expected by Wednesday and Thursday.

And I thought this was interesting enough to share……research on how birds response to weather. Take a look at this click from a recent article I found.

After a hurricane or earthquake, people often band together and cooperate to deal with the recovery. And we’re not the only species that becomes more cooperative in tough times. 

Female Yuhina birds in Taiwan usually fight over space in the community nest when they’re trying to lay eggs. But in bad weather the birds tend to leave each other alone.

Researchers monitored groups of yuhinas for several years, in fair and foul weather. When the scientists combined their data with a game-theory model, they found that periods of fighting between female yuhinas were 50-percent shorter when the weather was bad—which increased the overall success of the breeding group.

During times of heavy rain, food becomes scarce. And getting wet means that the birds have to expend more energy to stay warm. So the birds apparently institute a truce, which cuts down on energy wasted fighting, and increases everyone's chance of survival. In other words, in bad weather birds of a feather stick together.

—Amy Kraft

Scientific American

[Scientific American is part of the Nature Publishing Grou]