Birds in Flight

Sooty Tern in Flight
by Duncan Wright

Many species of bird travel north and south along flyways between seasonal breeding and wintering grounds. Bird migration was recorded by Homer and Aristotle 3,000 years ago.

Seasonal migration is driven by the availability of food and by the suitability of nesting sites.

Arctic Terns makes the longest yearly journey, flying from Arctic breeding grounds to the Antarctic.

The Southern Royal Albatross circles the Earth over the southern oceans. The Sooty Tern spends months at sea before returning to land to breed.

Migration is often arduous and carries the existential threats of predation and mortality.

In Flight
by Jennifer K. Sweeney

The Himalayan legend says
there are beautiful white birds
that live completely in flight.
They are born in the air,

must learn to fly before falling
and die also in their flying.
Maybe you have been born
into such a life

with the bottom dropping out.
Maybe gravity is claiming you
and you feel
ghost-scripted.

For the one who lives inside the fall,
the sky beneath the sky of all.

by L. Shyamal

REFERENCES

• Bird Migration, Wikipedia.
• In Flight, Jennifer K. Sweeney, 24 May 2013.
• Seabird, Wikipedia.