(NEXSTAR) – The arrival of spring means peak migration time for birds, but unlike most years, a total eclipse on April 8 will plunge a swathe of the U.S. into total darkness for several minutes.
While early April is too soon for some birds to return to their breeding grounds, others, such as ducks, geese and swans, may return to northern states as soon as late February when frozen lakes and marshes start to thaw, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
Bald eagles and some hawks don’t wait for wintry conditions to thaw before heading north, and kinglets and sapsuckers may reach northern states by early April.
It’s well known that the minutes of darkness during a solar eclipse can make animals do strange things – crickets start chirping, bees return to their hives, etc. – but what about the birds?
During the 2017 total solar eclipse over the U.S., Cornell researchers found that some birds didn’t switch over to nighttime activities, such as migration, but rather showed little movement due to a possible “general sense of confusion.”
Others located in the path of totality, where there is maximum darkness during an eclipse, showed “a sudden burst of activity during the moments of totality.”
“This could be insects or birds flushing into the air as a reaction to the sudden darkness,” lead author Cecilia Nilsson wrote.
As for this year’s eclipse, Geoff LeBaron, Christmas Bird Count director for the National Audubon Society, tells Nexstar he expects that in some cases birds in the path of totality will halt any activity as the sky darkens.
“However, the time of totality for the April 2024 eclipse is only a few minutes at most, which is a very brief suspension of their daytime activities, so I do not expect that the brief time would significantly affect behavior,” LeBaron said. “And the timing of the totality is from mid to late afternoon, not a time during the diurnal cycle when birds would be most active.”
