World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) recognizes migratory birds all around the world, not just here in the Americas. This was brought about by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center to help bring about awareness regarding threats that migratory birds are facing. Some of these threats include loss of habitat and the loss of these species in general. Since the beginning, this educational campaign has continued to spread awareness through community outreach events during World Migratory Bird Day to engage the public. This event stretches across the globe to help bring awareness around the different flyways that are used during the migratory season. These flyways include the Americas Flyway which stretches from Canada all the way down to the southern tip of South America, the African-Eurasian Flyway which stretches from South Africa to the edge of India to Greenland, and the East Asian-Australasian Flyway which stretches from Australia to the northern parts of eastern Russia and the western parts of Canada.
These flyways are super important for these migratory birds since they rely on these routes to travel to and from their migration grounds. These flyway routes tend follow the topographical features in a north-to-south direction. The main flyway routes listed above are mapped and dependent upon the boundaries on either side- mountain ranges, ocean, etc. These migratory birds tend to travel north in the springtime to have cooler weather and south in the wintertime to have warmer weather. This natural adaptation helps these animals survive throughout the year. Rather than adapting to the environment they live in, they instead have adapted to migrate thousands of miles a year to ensure survival. This provides them with a wider habitat range and more access to necessary resources for survival but also poses issues as well. Migration requires a lot of energy and can be a very vulnerable time for these species. Part of the reason you see migration occurring in big groups for some species is that this adaptation offers protection and motivation for individuals to keep moving.
To find local events in your area go to the website linked below:
https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/events-map
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