Climate change changing bird migrations

Rising temperatures in Europe have migrating flocks of cranes staying around increasingly longer in the fall before they fly south, German conservationists say. The average temperature in November this year in Germany was 41 degrees Fahrenheit, 1 degree higher than the usual average, and some migratory birds have chosen to spend the autumn and beginning of winter in Germany instead of flying on to warmer southern climes, they said. Until a few years ago, common cranes migrated in September from spring and summer habitats in Finland, Sweden and Russia to their autumn and winter homes Spain and northern Africa. But climate change is changing their natural migratory patterns, Inter Press Service reported. In northern Germany in recent years, tens of thousands of cranes have been delaying their departure by up to almost two months. "The area around Linum is currently the largest habitat in Germany for cranes migrating to and from the south," ornithologist Henrik Watzke of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union said. On some days in September and October, there are as many as 80,000 cranes gathered around the town, he said. "The conditions here are ideal," he said.