With puzzling variability, vast numbers of birds from Canada\u2019s boreal forests migrate hundreds or thousands of miles south from their usual winter range. These so-called irruptions were first noticed by birdwatchers decades ago, but the driving factors have never been fully explained. Now scientists have pinpointed the climate pattern that likely sets the stage for irruptions \u2013 a discovery that could make it possible to predict the events more than a year in advance.The researchers found that persistent shifts in rainfall and temperature drive boom-and-bust cycles in forest seed production, which in turn drive the mass migrations of pine siskins, the most widespread and visible of the irruptive migrants. \u201cIt\u2019s a chain reaction from climate to seeds to birds,\u201d says atmospheric scientist Court Strong, an assistant professor at the University of Utah and lead author of\u00a0the study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-321589","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n