After wintering in balmy Missouri, white-throated sparrows have been singing their homesick tune for the past month. Now, just as they are ready to return to their homeland, cold Canadian air has invaded the State behind the latest storm system, seemingly enticing them northward.
Of course, white-throated sparrows, like other migrant songbirds, relocate in response to the solar cycle. But we humans, focused on our own calendar and governed by our large brains, imagine that the hardy sparrows may be spurred on by the cool dry air before hot, muggy conditions invade the Heartland; we also imagine that early avian insectivores, having returned from the south, resent the Canadian chill, which suppresses the activity of their prey.
In effect, we project our own feelings on our avian neighbors. We despise chilly air in the midst of spring but welcome its arrival in the middle of a hot, humid summer. Birds cannot be bothered by such emotional sensitivity; they are focused on survival.
Of course, white-throated sparrows, like other migrant songbirds, relocate in response to the solar cycle. But we humans, focused on our own calendar and governed by our large brains, imagine that the hardy sparrows may be spurred on by the cool dry air before hot, muggy conditions invade the Heartland; we also imagine that early avian insectivores, having returned from the south, resent the Canadian chill, which suppresses the activity of their prey.
In effect, we project our own feelings on our avian neighbors. We despise chilly air in the midst of spring but welcome its arrival in the middle of a hot, humid summer. Birds cannot be bothered by such emotional sensitivity; they are focused on survival.
