Page 59 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals
P. 59
HARUN YAHYA
As the month of March approaches, shorebirds begin their
preparations for migrating to their breeding grounds in Siberia. First,
they start to consume extra amounts of food. In one day, a shorebird
only the size of a glass of water can consume about 40,000 inverte-
brates. Night and day, it alternates between
eight hours of eating and four hours of
rest, and accumulates between
50 and 100% of its body weight
in fat. 16 Migration begins in
April and May. The birds fly
non-stop for three days and nights, cover-
ing a distance of some 1,500 kilometers (932
miles) per day. At the end of this three-day flight,
having used up their entire store of fat, they stop along their
migration route in specific regions of countries like Japan, China
and Russia to replenish their lost reserves. In the course of mi-
gration, shorebirds gain and lose weight a few times; and
57
