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Ask Dr. Universe birds
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Why do birds migrate? – Lebron, 9, Virginia

Dear Lebron,

One of my favorite sights is when geese fly south in a “V” formation. As a cat, I’m pretty independent. So, I think it’s amazing to see birds fly together like that.

I talked about why birds migrate with my friend Heather Watts. She’s a biologist at Washington State University. She studies important animal behaviors like migration.

She told me that migration is a movement animals make that’s outside their normal day-to-day pattern. It’s usually a temporary movement. They leave for a little while and then come back.

Lots of animals migrate, but we usually think of birds doing it. The big reason birds migrate is to find things they need like food and places to nest.

“We think that, in most cases, birds are migrating to make use of resources—and that's usually food that's available only at some times of year,” Watts said.

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Did man live with dinosaurs together? – Daniel, 9, Republic of Korea

Dear Daniel,

When I think about dinosaurs, I usually picture the big ones. I think of triceratops with its pointy horns or apatosaurus with its long, long neck.

I asked my friend John Blong if those dinos ever lived with people. He’s an environmental archeologist at Washington State University. He studies early humans.

He told me that people and dinosaurs never lived at the same time. Well, mostly.

Dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago when a giant asteroid crashed to Earth. It threw up tons of dust and soot. It made Earth super cold and dark. It stayed that way for a long time. The world became a very hard place to live. Eventually, 75% of all living things died, including all the big dinosaurs.

People didn’t live on Earth at that time. The only mammals that lived back then were tiny. They looked like shrews or moles. It would take millions of years before mammals adapted enough to become primates. Scientists think the first humans showed up about 300,000 years ago. That was long after the dinosaurs died out.

But some dinosaurs survived the asteroid.

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Why do birds sing in the morning? – Alexandria, 9, Wisconsin

Dear Alexandria,

I usually write answers to kids’ science questions early in the morning. I like how it’s so quiet—except for my bird neighbors singing and singing.

I asked my friend Jennifer Phillips what’s going on. She’s a bird scientist at Washington State University.

She told me birds sing in the morning to tell other birds that their territory still belongs to them.

“The morning time is usually a little bit more calm, especially in windy areas,” Phillips said. “So, it's a good time to broadcast your song and for that song to potentially travel a little farther.”

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Why do birds circle when they find food instead of just going and eating it? – Eden, 7, Michigan

Dear Eden,

I live close to a natural area with lots of birds of prey like hawks and eagles. I love to watch them sit in ginormous nests on top of electrical poles. Or swooping around in big circles while they search for a meal.

I talked about why they circle with my friend Jennifer Phillips. She’s a wildlife ecologist at Washington State University. She studies the relationship between birds and the environment.

She told me that birds of prey fly in a circle because they’re riding warm air currents called thermal updrafts or thermals. As the sun heats the Earth, some pockets of air get hotter than others. That warmer air rises. Birds can hop on those warm, rising thermals and ride them. That saves energy.

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Why don't birds get electrocuted when they sit on power lines? – Angel, 14, California

Dear Angel,

I’ve never sat on a power line. I like to keep my paws firmly on the ground. But birds love resting there, especially in winter. Power lines give off a little heat, so it’s a good spot for birds to snuggle together and stay warm.

I talked about how they do that safely with my friend Javier Guerrero. He’s a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Washington State University.

He told me birds do get electrocuted on power lines sometimes. But that won’t happen if the bird touches just the power line—and doesn’t touch other lines or the pole at the same time.

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Dr. Universe: Why do some birds cheep loudly while other birds cheep quietly? -Traver, 4, Indiana 

That’s a great observation. Birds make all kinds of sounds and for lots of different reasons. When I got your question, I called up my friend Jessica Tir, a graduate student at Washington State University who studies songbirds. She said one of the main reasons a bird will make a loud sound is to attract a mate. When the birds find each other, they can make a nest for their eggs and wait for babies to hatch. Read More ...