phenology

A field of study of the periodic patterns in the behavior of living beings, in relation to weather and climate. For plants, things such as the dates on which certain shrubs bud, the appearance of flowers, the time when fruits ripen, or the timing of leaf fall are observed. As for animals, the dates of bird migration, the first songs of certain birds, mating season, or the appearance of certain insects are recorded. The term was first used by the Belgian botanist Charles François Antoine Morren (1807-1858), in 1853, although this type of observation goes much further back in time, several centuries before Christ, when the Chinese were already producing phenological calendars.