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Solar Eclipse May Cause 'Significant Change' in Bird Behavior


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The upcoming total solar eclipse is set to bring people from around the country to stare in awe at the cosmological wonder, but it may also spark strange behavior in birds.

The timing of the eclipse—during a period when many bird species are embarking on their spring migration—could cause birds to act bizarrely, researchers from Cornell University said.

This eclipse therefore provides scientists with an ideal opportunity to study how light affects bird behavior.

"Light is such a fundamental and ubiquitous cue, governing so many aspects of life on Earth," Cecilia Nilsson, a behavioral ecologist at Lund University, said in a statement from Cornell, where she was previously a postdoctoral research student. "But it's pretty hard to manipulate light at large scales. Here we have this unique natural phenomenon setting up a huge 'experiment' for us."

eclipse and birds
A stock image of a solar eclipse with an image of migrating starlings inset. Birds may act bizarrely during the total eclipse, researchers said. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Total solar eclipses happen when the sun, moon, and Earth are precisely aligned, and the moon completely covers the sun's disk, casting a shadow on the Earth. Total solar eclipses are visible from only a specific path on Earth's surface, where the darkest part of the moon's shadow falls. The path of this totality is due to pass northeast across the U.S. on April 8, moving from Texas to the Midwest and New England.

"A total solar eclipse itself is not that rare. They occur somewhere on the planet every 18 months, on average. What is perhaps rare about this one is that it is traversing such a large, populated land mass, making it more accessible for millions of people. The next one after this isn't for another 2.5 years, in August 2026 across Iceland and Spain," Ryan Milligan, a lecturer in astrophysics at Queen's University Belfast, told Newsweek.

According to NASA, a total solar eclipse won't pass across the contiguous United States for another 20 years, in August 2044.

Animals have been seen acting strangely during eclipses in the past, often initiating their evening behaviors or even stopping to watch the phenomena and acting anxiously.

"During the 2017 eclipse, we saw a decrease in flying insects, flying birds—but we didn't see anything like the typical pattern of movement when it gets dark at night," Andrew Farnsworth, a visiting researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said in the statement. "At sunset, there is typically a big pulse of movement showing insects, birds and bats either going to ground to settle for the night or just beginning nocturnal activity."

Most bizarrely, during the 2017 eclipse, Galapagos tortoises at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina, started breeding during the height of the totality, a study found.

The Cornell researchers hope to use this eclipse to get a glimpse into how phenomena like this can affect bird migration, as many birds fly during the night.

"By seeing how animals react to the total eclipse we can get clues to how they perceive and use light under normal circumstances. Birds and insects might use cues from light differently, for example," Nilsson said.

Where will you be during the eclipses in 2023 and 2024?

This map shows the path of the Moon’s shadow as it crosses the contiguous U.S. during the eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023 and total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Will you get a chance to see them? https://t.co/mC7CagW0AR pic.twitter.com/wBA08oZ7k6

— NASA (@NASA) March 21, 2023

The researchers plan to measure airborne activity using U.S. weather radar stations in the path of the eclipse to show how birds, bats and insects fly during the totality. They also plan to measure the animals' activity at sunset for comparison.

"The timing of this eclipse is great," Farnsworth said. "There are 13 radar stations along the route this time compared to eight during the 2017 event. There will be more birds on the move, seriously motivated to get to their breeding grounds. In theory, if there's any significant change in their behavior because of unexpected darkness and the accompanying drop in temperatures, we're much more likely to see it during this event."

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about eclipses? Let us know via [email protected].

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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