emphasizing that the mechanisms and effects are not fully understood.
So the saying is not baseless, but it is not a dependable forecast by itself. Low-flying birds can appear before rain because insects, wind, and changing conditions affect where and how they fly. They might also be flying low for reasons that have nothing to do with an approaching shower. A single sighting is an observation, not a weather report.
There is another reason the saying has lasted: people have watched the natural world closely for centuries. Before modern forecasts,
