Signs of Spring Everywhere Signs of Spring Everywhere
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Signs of Spring Update: April 25, 2003

Buggy Birds Back!
Hooray! The orioles are coming! You can't see it on the map yet, but David Aborn told us in this week's Weather Update that the first orioles should be arriving in many places this week. If you want to see them up close and personal, get those oranges out there.

People in the eastern half of the continent look for Baltimore Orioles, while those in the western half look for Bullock's Orioles. Which oriole lives in your area? Let us know when you see your first one!

This Wood Thrush finds insects on the forest floor and in deciduous trees. It never complains that its dinner is too hot!
One of the surest signs of spring is the return of birds that eat insects, like orioles. Why? Birds are warm-blooded, and their down feathers are the world's finest insulation. They have no trouble surviving in cold weather as long as they can maintain their body temperature by eating and metabolizing food. Some birds that eat seeds can survive in extreme cold, but birds that depend on moving insects would quickly die in cold weather when insects disappear. These birds head south, returning when their food supplies come back. Of course some birds that eat insects remain all winter. Chickadees, woodpeckers, and nuthatches all require animal protein, and they can get some of it from insects all winter long. How? Think over the possibilities and then see if you can answer this:

Challenge Question #19:
"How do chickadees, woodpeckers, and nuthatches find insects in the north in the middle of winter?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

A Bug for Every Bird?
There have been reports of swallows, bluebirds, warblers, and a host of other birds returning from the tropics during the past week. These birds eat lots and lots of insects. Swallows and flycatchers snatch them from the air in flight. Bluebirds swoop down to the ground to snap them up. Warblers catch many of theirs from the surface of leaves at the tops of trees. So many different kinds of insects, and so many different kinds of birds to eat them! Learn about some of these insect eating birds here:

Then answer this question:

Challenge Question #20:
"How do birds that require insects insure that there will be enough food for them at their destination when they start their migration?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

These two birds have longer intestines than their relatives, allowing them to return earlier in spring. Would you say that's gutsy of them? Tree Swallow photo by Stephen J. Lang for The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Yellow-rumped Warbler photo by Laura Erickson.
Current Happenings: Gutsy Birds
Helen O'Harra, a fifth grade teacher at Denali Elementary in Anchorage, Alaska, has found ravens nesting nearby. Baby ravens are very noisy! Lang Elliott recorded some baby ravens squawking. Listen!

Manson Fleguel saw his first Tree Swallow in Pembroke, Ontario, on April 20, and Ute Keitsch reports the first swallow in Ajax, Ontario, on April 21. Ute notes that the first swallow to return in spring is almost always a Tree Swallow. This little insect eater can survive several days in cold weather because unlike most swallows, it can digest berries and even seeds.

Pat Hogan reported her first Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler in Gulliver, Michigan, on April 19. Like Tree Swallows, Yellow-rumps usually appear before their relatives, and for the same reason. Like Tree Swallows, Yellow-rumps have longer intestines than their relatives, allowing them to digest plant as well as insect matter. Which makes us wonder, what does the size of intestines have to do with it? See if you can figure it out!

Challenge Question #21:
"Why must intestines be longer to digest plant matter than to digest insects and other animals?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Salamanders are hard to find. Their skin must stay moist, so they spend their time in leaf litter, under logs, and other wet places. And they are not good at protecting themselves from predators.
Current Happenings: Not All Birds, and Not All Good!
Janis Speel in Omemee, Ontario, saw her first coltsfoot blooming in the roadside ditches on April 20. Deborah Porter reports in the foot hills of the Berkshires, in Heath, Massachusetts, that on April 23, yellow spotted salamanders migrated to the ponds to mate and lay eggs. She notes that this takes place later where she is, in the hills, than it does in a nearby valley where this migration takes place in March. And she adds that April 23 is an early date for salamanders in her area. "I have seen them as late as mid-May, depending on the weather. "

How does Deborah remember when salamanders appear from year to year? One good way is to keep a field notebook. And the best thing about keeping your own field notebook is that you can keep track of the things YOU want to keep track of. You can choose which plants and animals you're interested in and keep notes on just them. Of course, the more notes you record, the more information you will have in later years as your interests change.

Cyndi Osier of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, is very happy to see her tulips this year. "I had a lot of bunnies having midnight snacks so I am very pleased that the tulips are blooming at all." Several people have reported chipmunks about, too.

Not all signs of spring are happy ones. Lauren Trute of Petawawa, Ontario, had her first mosquito bite of the season on April 19!

Report Your SightingsWhat signs of spring have been popping up in your area? Make sure you tell us about them! Just click on the owl button.

200,000 New People Every Day: Discussion of Challenge Question #18
Last time we asked, "If there are 200,000 more people each day, how many days does it take for a million people to be added to the human population?" Dividing 1,000,000 by 200,000, it's easy to calculate that the answer is 5 days. Imagine that! That means that every 2 1/2 weeks or so, as many people as live in the whole city of Chicago are added to the planet! And the situation is really even worse, because the rate of growth is increasing. That means that year after year, the number of people added daily increases! It will take intelligent, creative solutions to deal with this.

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-spring@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #19 (OR #20 OR #21).
3. In the body of your message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Signs of Spring Update Will Be Posted on May 2, 2003.

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