Birds Heard Tornados, Flew to Safety

Just a day before a devastating tornado outbreak swept through the US this year, a handful of songbirds in the region evacuated by flying hundreds of miles away. The scientists tracking the birds as part of a larger study speculate that they sensed the approaching twisters by detecting tornado-produced infrasound, a low frequency noise that can travel thousands of miles. The birds fled just days after finishing their 3,100-mile (5,000-km) seasonal migration from Colombia. They then flew 400 miles (700 km) south to the Gulf of Mexico, and returned almost immediately after the storms ended. More… Discuss