Photograph by Christian Ziegler Photograph by Christian Ziegler
Could the erratic flight pattern of an albatross somewhere over
the Indo-Pacific predict the next tsunami? According to
behavioral ecologist Martin Wikelski, animals are the sentinels
for change in the environment, and nothing tells us more than
watching when, where, and how they move. "Certain songbirds in
Europe return from their wintering grounds in Africa too late,"
Wikelski notes. "A species of warblers has stopped flying from
Northern Europe to the south. Seeing these changes helps us
identify problem spots and take action. Animals can sense the
environment more accurately than satellites. They show us a
lot." Movement patterns, he says, can track the spread of
diseases such as avian flu, signal areas affected by climate
change, guide conservation strategies about where to create
protected areas, and even keep airplanes safer by mapping flight
routes that avoid major bird migration paths. But how can a
creeping, crawling, climbing, soaring,