While we are asleep, we do not see or hear the hundreds of millions of songbirds that migrate at night. A team of researchers led by Benjamin Van Doren, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois started his study of nighttime migration of songbirds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Van Doren and his co-researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Appalachian Laboratory discovered strong evidence that migrating songbirds “buddy up” with other species, especially at stopover sites. They also pair up and communicate with other species while in flight.

While migrating during the day, young birds learn how to navigate by observing other birds. However, hundreds of millions of birds migrate at night, limiting visual contact with other birds. By studying nocturnal acoustic recordings, Van Doren discovered that songbirds communicate with other species during the night during migration.

What they found is that wing length and similar calls were the most important factors that caused birds to buddy up. This makes sense when considering that wing length is directly related to flight speed.

They also discovered that birds who buddied up at stopovers, did not necessarily buddy up with the same bird during flight. They also did not always buddy up with similar species while in flight.

This brings up the possibility that songbird species that cannot depend on their parents to lead them during migration, rely on social ties to guide them. It also shows that birds do not migrate alone with only their instincts to guide them. It raises the question of what other roles does socialization play in a bird’s life?

Journal Reference:

1. Benjamin M. Van Doren, Joely G. DeSimone, Josh A. Firth, Friederike Hillemann, Zach Gayk, Emily Cohen, Andrew Farnsworth. Social associations across species during nocturnal bird migration. Current Biology, 2025; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.033

Cite This Page:

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. “Songbirds socialize on the wing during migration.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 January 2025. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250115125116.htm>.