migrator

Federal wildlife officials on Tuesday proposed protecting the striking long-distance migrators under the Endangered Species Act after dramatic population drops.

The study focused on birds that move at night, as most migrators do, particularly perching birds such as warblers, thrushes and sparrows.

Fecal pellets from vertical migrators, rich in carbon, descend through the water column.

Some animals prey on ungulates, and numerous organisms depend on the biological activity sparked by hooves and the spreading of seeds and other material in migrators’ urine and feces.

The finding adds to evidence that migrators don’t always head back and forth between two fixed points, but instead follow food and avoid floods, fires, and other disturbances.