海鳥(niǎo)預(yù)測(cè)臺(tái)風(fēng)從而幫助遷徙

Seabirds Anticipate Typhoons to Help Migrations

Terns seem to pass through just after powerful typhoons

ByJoshua Rapp Learnon

October 1, 2020

遷徙的燕鷗可能會(huì)本著其敏銳的感覺(jué)從而在臺(tái)風(fēng)臨近時(shí)改變它們的飛行計(jì)劃以躲過(guò)暴風(fēng)雨的沖擊，而且還可以在臺(tái)風(fēng)過(guò)后的覓食機(jī)會(huì)中受益。

Migrating terns may alter their flight plans based on a keen sense of approaching typhoons, escaping the brunt of the storms but still benefiting from feeding opportunities in their wakes.

山科鳥(niǎo)類研究所（Yamashina Institute for Ornithology）的研究人員通過(guò)追蹤設(shè)備對(duì)來(lái)自日本沖繩縣的6只黑枕燕鷗的行蹤數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行了研究，從而了解多年來(lái)這些鳥(niǎo)類的遷徙情況。燕鷗飛越菲律賓海的部分 "臺(tái)風(fēng)高速路"，前往婆羅洲島和蘇拉威西島，并改變了它們的出發(fā)時(shí)間--通常來(lái)說(shuō)是等到一個(gè)大臺(tái)風(fēng)即將穿過(guò)它們預(yù)計(jì)好的路徑時(shí)才離開(kāi)。

Researchers at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology examined data recorded by tracking devices on six black-naped terns from Okinawa, Japan, to learn more about the?birds' migrations?over multiple years. The terns flew across part of the Philippine Sea's “typhoon highway” to get to the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi and varied their departure times—often apparently waiting to leave until a large typhoon was about to cross their projected path.

北極燕鷗

日本國(guó)家極地研究所博士后研究員、這項(xiàng)新研究的主要作者Jean-Baptiste Thiebot說(shuō)：“它們似乎可以預(yù)測(cè)它?！痹撗芯坑?月發(fā)表在《海洋生物學(xué)》上。該研究中幾乎沒(méi)有關(guān)于燕鷗如何做到這一點(diǎn)的線索，但在其他方面表明，一些遷徙的鳥(niǎo)類可以檢測(cè)到次聲波天氣信號(hào)以及可以觀察到云層中的千變?nèi)f化。

“They seem to be able to predict it,” says Jean-Baptiste Thiebot, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan and lead author of the new study, which waspublished in JuneinMarine Biology. The study offers few clues about how terns might do this, but other research suggests some migrating birds detect infrasonic weather signals or observe changing clouds.

Thiebot研究的燕鷗通常會(huì)避開(kāi)臺(tái)風(fēng)。但是臺(tái)風(fēng)所帶來(lái)的狂風(fēng)暴雨可以將食物“攪動(dòng)”到海洋表面，這就會(huì)直接給饑腸轆轆的遷徙鳥(niǎo)兒們提供食物幫助。Thiebot說(shuō)，"實(shí)際上，每年遷徙時(shí)，它們可能會(huì)利用臺(tái)風(fēng)來(lái)知道何時(shí)離開(kāi)。"在2017年這個(gè)異常平靜的季節(jié)，并沒(méi)有強(qiáng)烈的臺(tái)風(fēng)信號(hào)，鳥(niǎo)兒們的旅程開(kāi)始得較晚，飛行時(shí)也沒(méi)有中途停留。Thiebot希望這一現(xiàn)象可以在更大規(guī)模的研究中被證實(shí)。他還擔(dān)心臺(tái)風(fēng)頻率的增加會(huì)影響鳥(niǎo)類的預(yù)測(cè)精度，有可能會(huì)讓它們受困于危險(xiǎn)的天氣中而無(wú)法脫身。

The terns Thiebot studied typically avoided the typhoons themselves. But these storms can churn food to the ocean surface, so their immediate aftermath may help the hungry travelers. “They might actually use the typhoon to know when to leave” for their migrations each year, Thiebot says. In the unusually quiet 2017 season, without a strong typhoon cue, the birds started their journeys later and flew without pit stops. Thiebot would like to see this pattern confirmed in a larger study. He also worries that increasing typhoon frequency could affect birds' prediction accuracy, potentially getting them caught in dangerous weather.

美國(guó)地質(zhì)調(diào)查局(U.S. Geological Survey)的已退休野生動(dòng)物生物學(xué)家羅伯特

·吉爾(Robert Gill)沒(méi)有參與這項(xiàng)研究。他說(shuō)：“盡管這項(xiàng)研究的樣本容量很小，但它卻增添了科學(xué)家們對(duì)燕鷗遷徙的整體認(rèn)知?！彼€曾研究過(guò)濱鳥(niǎo)（可以簡(jiǎn)單理解為就是棲息在海岸邊的鳥(niǎo)兒）， 它們的遷徙時(shí)間有部分是基于即將到來(lái)的風(fēng)暴的，但很少有研究會(huì)深入探討這種行為?！八鼈儽任覀兯鶕碛械淖詈玫奶鞖忸A(yù)報(bào)員預(yù)測(cè)得還要好，”吉爾說(shuō)，“但它們已經(jīng)通過(guò)哪怕沒(méi)有數(shù)百萬(wàn)年也有數(shù)萬(wàn)年的歲月來(lái)磨練這項(xiàng)技能?！?/p>

Robert Gill, an emeritus research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, who was not involved in the work, says that although the study's sample size is small, it adds to scientists' overall understanding of migration.He has studied shorebirds that time their migrations based partly on incoming storms, but little research has delved into this behavior. “They are able to predict better than the best weather forecasters we have,” Gill says, “but they've also had tens of thousands, if not millions, of years to hone that skill.”

原文：https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seabirds-anticipate-typhoons-to-help-migrations/