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Not the canary in the coalmine, but a golden-winged-warbler flying away from storms.

Jason Harris

EF5
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
537
Location
Bryan, TX
Check this out:
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A recent storm in eastern Tennessee led to 84 tornadoes and killed 35 people, but the golden-winged warblers left in time to fly to safety. Researchers discovered the birds' supernatural capabilities by accident — they were testing whether the warblers could carry geolocators on their backs.
[ . . .]
Before the storm hit, the birds left Tennessee's Cumberland Mountains, migrating an astonishing 400 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. They escaped more than 24 hours before the storm arrived, and the researchers believe the birds knew the storm was coming because of the weather's low-range infrasounds.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/274028/speedreads-psychic-birds-could-predict-storms-in-advance
 
Terrible conclusions made from junk science. This ranks up there with the tornado wall paper.

The article I read that wasn't just a summary of baseless claims stated that they had tracked 5 birds that had apparently flown somewhere the day before there was severe weather in the area. I didn't see how they jumped to the conclusion that it was the severe weather that caused them to take flight, and not any other behavioral or environmental factor, or just coincidence. Further, how do they then jump to the conclusion that birds can sense severe weather. The authors should be ashamed.

Here's a bird flying toward a tornado:
11052118.jpg


Ben Holcomb has great video of geese flying backwards in the 2013 Moore EF5 windfield.

Despite the claim that birds hear the tornado's infrasound frequencies, there are birds chirping away against the audible tornado roar in my 2013 El Reno video.

Based on this evidence I conclude erroneously that birds are actually attracted to tornadoes.
 
I've seen horses and cows trotting around when there's a bad storm really close by. But that's probably more attibuted to hail hitting them or close lightning. Maybe they can feel the pressure falls, who knows. But I agree with Skip, those birds probably migrated all that way for some other reason. Its just a coincidence that there was a big storm the next day.
 
What, folks aren't going to get pet golden-winged warblers for storm-casting?

Well, obviously some birds may be better at this than others, if there's a real phenomenon at work, granted.

Sure, it's hasty, but it's something to explore more:
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Dr Chris Hewson, a senior research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology, told BBC News that infrasound was a plausible explanation.

He pointed out that several birds, including falcons, are thought to use infrasound to help them navigate.

"And you can see from the weather data that there doesn't appear to be any alternative cue that they could be picking up on," he said.
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Intriguing that these birds in question had left their nesting ground and then returned after the storm:
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In this case, all five indicated that the birds had taken unprecedented evasive action, beginning one to two days ahead of the storm's arrival.

"The warblers in our study flew at least 1,500km (932 miles) in total," Dr Streby said.

They escaped just south of the tornadoes' path - and then went straight home again. By 2 May, all five were back in their nesting area.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30531060

The actual research source you have to have some library privileges or pay:
title: "Tornadic Storm Avoidance Behavior in Breeding Songbirds"
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(14)01428-6
 
What I noticed is that the birds (which apparently can hear tornadoes) left the day before any tornadoes formed. So... did they actually forecast that they would hear tornadoes the next day?

I have no doubt that animals pick up on signs we don't notice (or don't/can't measure.) This -- is not one of them.
 
I saw video from I believe Reed Timmer showing cows starting to run just moments before a funnel dropped ( no hail in the area) I also have no doubt animals are more sensitive to changing conditions than we are.
 
These cows were definitely bothered by the dissipating tornado, but they didn't notice it until it was upon them...
51205cows.JPG


And these geese seemed perfectly happy flying near the RFD region of a developing tornado...
33006geese.JPG
 

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I believe most animals are more afraid of hail. I've been near cows during a hailstorm and it's a sad site. The sound of the impacts along with the moaning is creepy.

I think it's a long stretch to say birds could detect a tornado 24 hours in advance. Then again, it seems any scientific claim now days is generally accepted by the press as legitimate without the scrutiny that once existed. (:

Such is the norm in a society that believes in growing hair with UV light and the man who was eaten by a anaconda for scientific purposes.

I hoping the guy from Poland, who once called me at 3:00 AM to advise me that submarines were causing hurricanes, is able to get a grant now.

W.
 
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