A team of scientists studying golden-winged warblers earlier this year found out the birds can sense tornadoes from great distances, and flee their nests as one approaches.

Researchers were impressed by this fact because this behavior has never been reported before in birds. They discovered the birds changed their course a few days before a massive thunderstorm arrived in the Great Plains.

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They accidentally found out that golden-winged warblers in eastern Tennessee abandoned their nesting spots one to two days before the arrival of a hurricane.

Researchers are curious if the winged creatures carry geolocators as the birds weigh less than half an ounce. They equipped several birds with transmitters before the arrival of the springtime storm.

The birds fled from the oncoming hurricane, traveling over 900 miles in five days to avoid the powerful storm. Five of the creatures flew toward southern Florida, with one making it all the way to Cuba.

"The warblers in our study flew at least 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) total to avoid a severe weather system. They then came right back home after the storm passed," said Henry Streby from the University of California, Berkeley.

A theory says the bird can somehow hear the infrasound (or a low-frequency noise) created by storms. Experts found out that birds hear these low-frequency sounds even if humans can't.

The birds chose to avoid the storm regardless of the long flight and high amount of energy they had to put into their escape.

The ability of the birds to detect hurricanes could be useful to the species, especially when global climate change generates frequent and severe storms worldwide. The study suggests birds may adapt better than expected to global warming.

In the near future, researchers aim to use geolocators to track how the birds migrate during winter months.

Tagsinfrasound, geolocators, Birds, Golden-winged warblers, tornado, hurricane, birds can detect storms tornado, Animals