why do birds fly south for the winter ?

Answer 1

Because it's too far to walk!

Answer 2

Seriously, though, this is the time of the year when birds start to migrate. They migrate because it gets too cold or too hard to find food. Shorebirds (like sandpipers and sea gulls) started to migrate back in July. Soon, other birds will begin to migrate (if they haven't already).
Where do all these birds go? Good question. The answer depends on the bird. Most field guides have maps showing where to see a particular kind of bird. The map usually shows where the bird nests in the summer and where it lives in the winter. If the map doesn’t show where the bird is in the winter, the chances are that it leaves North America and heads for South America where the seasons are reversed, and it is spring during our fall, and summer during our winter. (Some places in South America are hot all year, but that's another story.) Some maps don't show where the birds go along the way, but if they nest on the East Coast, chances are good that you can see them as they head south.
How do birds know to migrate, where to go, and how to get there? More good questions. Some people think birds know when the hours of daylight begin to get noticeably shorter, but no one knows for sure. As to how they get there, perhaps they follow the stars, or look for landmarks—things on the ground they know. Some birds travel in flocks, so the adults teach the young. Waterfowl (ducks, geese) migrate in flocks, sometimes with anywhere from 100 to 1,000 birds! Truly a sight to see. Others find their way one at a time.

Birds that do not migrate stay because their food (seeds, for instance) is a lot easier to find in the winter than bugs are for bug eaters. When some birds migrate, they go no farther south than right here in Virginia. Our winters are warmer than winters way up North—say in Canada or Maine. To find out what birds you can see here during the fall and winter, check out a field guide and come on a field trip listed in the Thrasher!

By the way, are there any birds that go NORTH for the winter? Well, yes! In southern South America, and other places near the “bottom” of the world, birds that migrate go north. Why? Well, because it is too cold there for most birds in the winter. There-fore, the birds that live at the bottom of the world (the southern hemisphere) in places where the weather gets cold, fly NORTH for the same reason birds here in the nothern hemisphere fly SOUTH for the winter—because it is too far to walk!
Good birding!
Michael Shapiro

Answer 3

Many birds migrate or fly south for the winter because of temperature changes. Cold, snowy winters can create a real health hazard for them, as does the lack of food. So when the days grow shorter and colder, birds set off for their warmer winter home.

Why do Birds Fly South for the Winter?


Because it's too far to walk!

Seriously, though, this is the time of the year when birds start to migrate. They migrate because it gets too cold or too hard to find food. Shorebirds (like sandpipers and sea gulls) started to migrate back in July. Soon, other birds will begin to migrate (if they haven't already).
Where do all these birds go? Good question. The answer depends on the bird. Most field guides have maps showing where to see a particular kind of bird. The map usually shows where the bird nests in the summer and where it lives in the winter. If the map doesn’t show where the bird is in the winter, the chances are that it leaves North America and heads for South America where the seasons are reversed, and it is spring during our fall, and summer during our winter. (Some places in South America are hot all year, but that's another story.) Some maps don't show where the birds go along the way, but if they nest on the East Coast, chances are good that you can see them as they head south.
How do birds know to migrate, where to go, and how to get there? More good questions. Some people think birds know when the hours of daylight begin to get noticeably shorter, but no one knows for sure. As to how they get there, perhaps they follow the stars, or look for landmarks—things on the ground they know. Some birds travel in flocks, so the adults teach the young. Waterfowl (ducks, geese) migrate in flocks, sometimes with anywhere from 100 to 1,000 birds! Truly a sight to see. Others find their way one at a time.

Birds that do not migrate stay because their food (seeds, for instance) is a lot easier to find in the winter than bugs are for bug eaters. When some birds migrate, they go no farther south than right here in Virginia. Our winters are warmer than winters way up North—say in Canada or Maine. To find out what birds you can see here during the fall and winter, check out a field guide and come on a field trip listed in the Thrasher!

By the way, are there any birds that go NORTH for the winter? Well, yes! In southern South America, and other places near the “bottom” of the world, birds that migrate go north. Why? Well, because it is too cold there for most birds in the winter. There-fore, the birds that live at the bottom of the world (the southern hemisphere) in places where the weather gets cold, fly NORTH for the same reason birds here in the nothern hemisphere fly SOUTH for the winter—because it is too far to walk!
Good birding!

Answer 4

Many birds migrate or fly south for the winter because of temperature changes. Cold, snowy winters can create a real health hazard for them, as does the lack of food. So when the days grow shorter and colder, birds set off for their warmer winter home.

Answer 5

Migration is the basic instinct in any bird. Usually the weather becomes colder the more we move in the north direction. So winter in the north is extremely cold and they cannot find the sufficient ammount of food they require. That is why they migrate.
The same is the reason for them flying south.

Answer 6

For some of the Colonels finger licking good chicken!

Answer 7

To get ready for the next winter olympics.

Cool walkathon athletes....

Answer 8

the birds like the wormpth and if they stay they might freeze to death or die or something like that!
they hate the snow and cold, so they go where it's worm!

Answer 9

Too cold in the north.

Answer 10

so that they can fly back north when summer comes

Answer 11

Because its too cold up north.