Hyderabad: World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.
It has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. It is a two-day event annually held on the second weekend of May to highlight the need to protect migratory birds.
World Migratory Bird Day History
World Migratory Bird Day was initiated in 2006 by the Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Originally, the idea of designating a day for migratory birds arose in the United States in 1993, when the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology initiated celebrations of the 'International Migratory Bird Day' (IMBD), which encourages bird festivals and education programmes across the Americas. Although this day was and continues to be successfully celebrated in the western hemisphere, something similar was missing for the rest of the world.
Some Interesting Facts About Bird Migration
- At least 4,000 species of bird are regular migrants, which is about 40 per cent of the total number of birds in the world
- Birds can reach great heights as they migrate. Bar-headed geese are the highest-flying migratory birds
- The Arctic tern has the longest migration of any bird in the world. These black-capped, red-billed birds can fly more than 49,700 miles in a year
- Speaking of long distances, the Northern wheatear travels up to 9,000 miles each way between the Arctic and Africa, giving it one of the largest ranges of any songbird
- The award for fastest bird goes to the great snipe
- The bar-tailed godwit can fly for nearly 7,000 miles without stopping
- Hummingbirds are the smallest migrating bird
Why migratory birds?
Avian migration is a natural miracle. Migratory birds fly hundreds and thousands of kilometres to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. When conditions at breeding sites become unfavourable, it is time to fly to regions where conditions are better.
There are many different migration patterns. The majority of birds migrate from northern breeding areas to southern wintering grounds. However, some birds breed in southern parts of Africa and migrate to northern wintering grounds, or horizontally, to enjoy the milder coastal climates in winter. Other birds reside on lowlands during the winter months and move up a mountain for the summer.
Migratory birds have the perfect morphology and physiology to fly fast and across long distances. Often, their journey is an exhausting one, during which they go to their limits. The Red Knot has one of the longest total migration routes of any bird, travelling up to 16,000 kilometres twice a year. It breeds in Siberia and overwinters on the west coast of Africa, some even going down to the tip of South Africa.