About 1,200 tornadoes slam the U.S. yearly. These tempestuous storms flatten homes, schools, and businesses, toss trucks, and hurl cars. People seek shelter to survive the ferocious and destructive winds, but what do birds do to live through tornados?

We do not really know. Birds’ keen sense of hearing detects the hum of a tornado miles away, which may alert them to flee from its path or hunker down in tree cavities and brush. Undoubtedly, many perish.

The greatest impact on birds is the destruction of important habitats where they raise their young and find food, water, and shelter. Even the destruction of barns affects barn swallows and barn owls that nest in them. I once observed a family of northern flickers nesting in a tree cavity survive a storm that blew the tree down. Despite the tree’s trunk lying on the ground, the parents continued to feed their young.

When tornadoes uproot trees and snap trunks in half, the canopy that forest-dwelling birds rely on is destroyed. These birds then seek suitable forest habitats elsewhere. In the absence of trees, a flood of sunlight spurs the growth of saplings and shrubs resulting in a brushy habitat conducive to thicket-loving prairie warblers, chestnut-sided warblers, and thrashers.

Over time, the tall trees of the forest will return, and so will the forest-dwelling birds, until a tornado upends the habit again. Nature is resilient!