Migratory songbirds change breathing pattern to fly at high altitude

Advanced Facility for Avian Research postdoctoral researcher Catherine Ivy (Photo by Darryl Lahteenmaa) - Climate change has become a climate catastrophe, say researchers. Earth, water, fire and wind are fighting back and everyone and everything is affected. And that includes the world's bird population. New research from Western University's Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR) is the first to show that birds adjust their physiology during the migratory season to maintain oxygen uptake and movement to flight muscles, with some species exhibiting greater adjustments than others. Migration, the regular seasonal movement between breeding and wintering grounds, is greatly affected by climate change (specifically global warming) as birds are forced to encounter and endure changing temperatures, changing humidity, changing altitudes and potentially wildfire smoke to stay cool during flight. The remarkable modification in breathing pattern, blood-oxygen binding and flight muscle morphology allows the songbirds to fly at much higher altitudes during long distance flights - as much as 4,000 metres (approximately half the cruising altitude of a commercial jet) above sea level - allowing them to avoid major shifts in temperatures and weather patterns caused by climate change. Christopher Guglielmo (Submitted) "Climate change is going to continue heating up the environment and birds need to fly so they can migrate and breed," said AFAR co-director Chris Guglielmo and senior author on the study.