World Migratory Bird Day 2020: Birds Connect Our World

What is World Migratory Bird Day?

In 2018, the Environment for the Americas (EFTA), joined the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), to create a single, global, bird conservation education campaign, World Migratory Bird Day! This day is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.

We celebrate World Migratory Bird Day on the second Saturday of May in the US and Canada (May 9, 2020), and the second Saturday of October in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean (October 10, 2020). There are two celebration days a year because migratory birds are all migrating at different times in different parts of the world. The 2020 World Migratory Bird Day conservation theme, Birds Connect Our World, focuses on the tracking technologies used to explore the routes of migratory birds across the globe, and how this knowledge is used to inform conservation.

How NB&T Supports World Migratory Bird Day:

National Band & Tag is a supporter of migratory birds, and World Migratory Bird Day because we manufacture millions of bird bands each year. Researchers and conservationists use our bird bands to track birds and collect data. Our bands fit in with this year’s theme of Birds Connect Our World because our bands are used for tracking! Bands have been used since 1595 to track and identify birds. Other bird tracking systems include satellite tags, light-level geolocators, weather radars, satellite imagery, and data from people using birding apps. Tracking migratory birds provides us with lots of useful information! We learn about the places where birds nest, stop to rest, and where they spend the non-nesting months. We can examine their habitats, threats they face on the ground, and how we can help improve their migratory journey.

How to Participate in World Migratory Bird Day while in Quarantine:

It’s a crazy time we live in right now. We aren’t able to get out and take a bird tour or attend a local WMBD activity. But there are still lots of ways you can celebrate World Migratory Bird Day from home! Check out www.migratorybirdday.org/resources for WMBD coloring pages, at-home scavenger hunts, and activity pages. You can also go birding in your backyard. Observe what birds you can see from your home, and then try learning more about your local birds online. Show off how you are celebrating WMBD on social media using #WMBD2020, #WorldMigratoryBirdDay, and #BirdsConnectOurWorld.