Bird Migration and the Concept of Continental Drift

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Abstract
The inherent behavior of moving to and from nesting and feeding grounds appeared soon a.fter the origin of birds. Many birds returned to the same feeding and nesting areas after they became divergent. Only those birds survived as migrants that developed the energy to let them complete the flight between the diverging areas. It is postulated that the cause of the divergence was the drifting of continental masses and the development of oceans. That such drifting was important in the evolution of migration is witnessed by the extent, direction, and general pattern of migration, and their correlation with the evolution of the continental masses, temporally and spatially. That establishment of energy resources was important in the evolution of migration is attested by periodic fat deposition in migrants, its absence in closely related resident forms, and the correlation of fat deposition and migratory behavior under natural and exptl. conditions. The causes of the original movements were probably not identical in* all migratory spp., but the gradual divergence and northward drifting of land masses would provide the stimulus for the evolution of extensive migratory flights. Pleistocene glaciatkm was probably only a modifying factor in the evolution of migration.

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