Letting Yourself Go 

The seasonal fattening of migratory birds  

What a fatty!

It is well known that migratory birds undergo an increase in adipose tissue in preparation for their long journeys. Analogous to the increase in fat in migratory birds, the research on the subject in the last few years has become heftier than ever before.

So what is this website about? It’s about secrets, and tricking Nature into revealing them to us.  It’s about pointing you in the right direction to solve the age-old enigma of how those birds are able to make their long journey south.  It’s about rescuing young children from the terrible fate of believing that the seasonal fattening of migratory birds is some type of magical phenomenon that we can never hope to understand.  

More specifically, however, this website is designed to highlight research from the field that is chipping away at the following questions:

•        How long has this whole birds-getting-fat-so-they-can-fly-for-crazy-amounts-of-time-
and-distances thing been going on?  Do all birds do this?  When did this evolve?

•        Is there a developmental aspect to getting fat? Is this a learned behavior, or is it
something that all migratory birds know how to do as soon as they crack the eggshell?

•        How do they do it?  If there was a “Who’s the Best at Getting Fat” Olympics, migratory
birds would kick America’s ass.  But how do they actually increase their body mass?

•        How has this amazing ability to gain weight helped these birds live, grow, and propagate
for so long?


We hope you enjoy exploring our website and the magical world of fat birds!

-Natalie and Aroon