Migration is a genuinely amazing phenomenon that occurs both in the spring and the autumn. The majority of bird species in North America migrate, with over 350 species making annual trips between their summer territories in the U.S. and the tropics to spend the winter. Listed here are just a few of the amazing facts about our migrants.

1. Approximately 40% of all bird species in the world, or at least 4,000 species, migrate regularly. (However, as we learn more about the habits of birds in tropical areas, this number will probably rise.)
 

2. During migration, birds can soar to incredible heights. The highest flying migratory birds are bar-headed geese, which may frequently soar up to 5.5 miles above sea level while migrating through the Himalayas in India. The Ruppel's griffon vulture, however, which collided with a plane in 1975 at a height of 37,000 feet (that's seven miles! ), holds the record for flying at the highest altitude. Unfortunately, the vulture was sucked into the jet engine. 

3. Of all birds in the world, the Arctic tern has the longest migration. These birds with red bills and black caps can travel more than 49,700 miles in a single year, roundtrip, between their breeding sites in the Arctic and their wintering grounds in the Antarctic. The fortunate bird experiences two summers each year! Additionally, the number of flights over its more than 30-year lifespan might equal three journeys to the moon and back.

4. The northern wheatear has one of the widest ranges of any songbird, covering up to 9,000 miles in each direction between the Arctic and Africa. Given that the tiny bird often weighs less than an ounce, this achievement is all the more remarkable.

5. The great snipe wins the title of fastest bird, clocking distances of up to 4,200 miles per hour! No other animal covers such distances at such speeds. The snipe's speeds don't appear to be due to tailwinds, which are winds that are flowing in the same direction that they are flying in.

6. The bird with the longest recorded non-stop flight is the bar-tailed godwit, which can fly approximately 7,000 miles nonstop. The bird travels for eight days without stopping for food or rest, displaying astounding stamina.
 

7. For birds, migration can be very risky, and many don't always make it back to where they started. Although occasionally unfavourable weather and other natural phenomena play a part, human activities are frequently to blame for the untimely deaths of birds. Up to one billion birds every year in the United States alone perish due to window collisions.  Additionally, according to ABC News, about seven million people in North America per year pass away after colliding with TV and radio towers.
 

8. To bulk up on food in the weeks before migration to store fat that they would later utilise for energy on their lengthy flights, birds enter a state known as hyperphagia, which is incredibly stressful for them. Before travelling 2,300 miles non-stop for 86 hours, some birds, like the blackpoll warbler, nearly quadruple their body weight.

9. Even land-based birds migrate. The big Australian birds known as emus can walk great distances in search of food, while many populations of penguins move by swimming.