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BOT FLIGHT IN HOURS. "Krister Wolff and Peter Nordin of Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, built a winged robot and set about testing whether it could learn to fly by itself, without any pre-programmed data on what flapping is or how to do it." https://lnkd.in/dewfVH9 View in LinkedIn

LIGHT IMPACT. "When continuously exposed to long days, short day photosensitive migratory birds show successive seasonal life-history states, characterized by premigratory (initiation of lipogenesis and gametogenesis), migratory (fat deposition and increased body mass, recrudesced gonads, and nocturnal migratory restlessness, known as Zugunruhe, and postmigratory [fat stores depleted and lean body mass, regressed gonads, return to day activity, and development of photorefractoriness; long day refractory)] phenotypes." http://www.fasebj.org/content/29/10/4248.full View in LinkedIn

CIRCADIAN CHANGES. "From a behavioural ecology perspective, the ability to shift circadian activity during migration represents a key element of avian migratory behaviour. Indeed, many species of diurnally active birds switch to additional nocturnal activity during the migratory season.” http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/02/11/rspb.2010.2567 View in LinkedIn

TRIGGERS FOR PHYSIOLOGY. "Such a change in the circadian activity patterns involves substantial physiological and hormonal shifts." http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/02/11/rspb.2010.2567 View in LinkedIn

FOOTNOTE. "We should note, that Clock is predicted to regulate migratory timing and not orientation." https://lnkd.in/dWFycUQ View in LinkedIn

SEASONAL PHENOTYPES. "This is particularly evident in latitudinal migratory species, which respond to photoperiod change with a precise succession of change in the behavior for accurate seasonal timing of their migration and reproduction." http://www.fasebj.org/content/29/10/4248.full View in LinkedIn

NO CORRELATION. "Subsequent studies on different populations or taxa have failed to find similar associations (e.g., no correlation with latitudinal clines in bluethroats, barn swallows, Tachycineta swallows or three-spined stickleback, breeding phenology in great tits or barn swallows, or migratory propensity in blackcaps." https://lnkd.in/dWFycUQ View in LinkedIn

PHOTOPERIODIC TRIGGERS. "In long-lived animals, seasonal recurrence of biologic activities (phenology) like migration, hibernation, reproduction, and molt is achieved by adjusting the period of endogenous clocks to the annual change in the photoperiod. Responding to the environmental photoperiod cycle demands behavioral and physiologic plasticity, as shown by the development of seasonal phenotypes in many vertebrates." https://lnkd.in/eqEQSzy View in LinkedIn

ROLE FOR CLOCK. "Many of these studies uncovered a regulatory role for Clock (e.g., migratory timing in Chinook and Pacific salmon; breeding phenology in blue tits and barn swallows; and migratory propensity in the Junco genus and barn swallows; timing of migration assessed via light-level geolocators." https://lnkd.in/dWFycUQ View in LinkedIn

PHENOTYPIC VARIATION. "Across a range of organisms, related species or even populations of the same species exhibit strikingly different scales and patterns of movement. A significant proportion of the phenotypic variance in migratory traits is genetic, but the genes involved in shaping these phenotypes are still unknown." https://lnkd.in/eCZBnME View in LinkedIn