Walking through downtown Columbia this morning, I came across a dead Nashville warbler, lying on the sidewalk at the base of a building. After spending its summer in woodlands of the Great Lakes region, this migrant was on his way to Mexico for the winter. Unfortunately, illness or a traumatic impact ended that journey.
We humans often envy the freedom of birds, especially their ability to escape to warm, sunny climes for the winter months. Of course, that freedom is not without risks, as this morning's discovery so clearly demonstrates; predators, physical obstacles, severe weather, polluted water, illness and starvation all take a toll. While these factors tend to weed out the weak, sick and old from the migrant population, all of the seasonal travelers are potential victims.
Human travelers understand that certain risks accompany any journey. Though our chance of injury or death is far less than that of avian migrants, we accept some risk in the pursuit of the rewards that travel affords, whether they be business opportunities, educational events, reunions or relaxing vacations. The warbler's journey was purely instinctual but ours, including the journey of life itself, is undertaken with risks and rewards in mind.
