A new study has found a relationship between the geometry of a bird’s brain and its migration pattern. Researchers looked at birds that flew a range of distances and scanned their brains. The forebrain, the largest part of the brain, most of which is made up of the cerebrum, was found to have a large impact on the way environmental stress is processed by a migrating bird. While migrating birds were discovered to have smaller brains, the specific size was not found to indicate the distance traveled during migration; rather it was the region of the forebrain that had the most activity that indicated migratory status. In long distance migrants researchers found the hyperpallium to be larger. Predictions about migration could also be based on subregions in this area of the brain. In large resident birds the area of the brain that comprehends location evolves slowly. In small birds, fledging occurred in a shorter period of time and mirrored brain development. Migrants also had more evolved eye-sight, especially in regards to night vision.

(Via R. Fuchs, H. Winkler, V. P. Bingman, J. D. Ross and G. Bernroider, Brain Geometry and its Relation to Migratory Behavior in Birds. Journal of Advanced Neuroscience Research, 2014, Vol. 1, No. 1 9.) 

Photo of Brandt's Cormorant by Byron Chin