What do birds do in a hurricane?

Of course, if birds survive a hurricane, and somehow manage to find their way back home, they are then faced with profound habitat destruction that can persist for decades. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo decimated much of the remaining old-growth forest that is vital habitat for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, Leuconotopicus borealis. read more

Because birds are so attuned to shifts in barometric pressure, they can often sense ahead of time when a storm is brewing. That advance warning leaves them with several options. Some try to outpace the hurricane, coasting ahead on the propulsion of the storm’s outermost winds. read more

Presumably a bird tends to take off when the wind is favorable, just after the passage of a low-pressure system. Because regular airflow of a hurricane moves counterclockwise, after the system passes to the east, there may be winds from the northwest. The birds will take off with that. read more