World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is a global campaign that emphasises the importance of migratory bird conservation and habitat preservation. We commemorate this day on the second Saturday in May and the second Saturday in October.
This year, World Migratory Bird Day was on May 14, with October 8 being the second time. The day raises awareness about the problems that migratory birds face, their ecological value, and the need for worldwide collaboration to protect them.
WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY – IMPORTANCE
Migratory birds are essential for maintaining ecological balance and biodiversity because they connect nations, people, and ecosystems. The number of migratory birds is declining every day as a result of a variety of problems, including unlawful killing, habitat damage, and chemicals discharged into the ecosystem.
As American naturalist Roger Tory Peterson said, “Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble". So, the purpose of the day is to safeguard migratory bird breeding, non-breeding, and stopover habitats while preserving a healthy bird population.
As a result, every year, people throughout the world organise public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, and bird-watching events to raise awareness about migratory bird conservation.
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 Centre 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.
On the occasion of its 10th anniversary in 2005, the AEWA Secretariat initiated the Migratory Waterbird Days (MWD) which were held in Africa, Europe and parts of Asia. As this event was well received in the African-Eurasian region, it was decided to broaden the scope into a commemorative day that celebrates all migrating birds on a global scale.
The very first World Migratory Bird Day was launched by AEWA and CMS on the weekend of 8-9 April 2006 on Ms. Kuki Gallmann’s famous wildlife reserve ‘Ole Ari Nyiro’ in Laikipia, Kenya. The central event at the launch - called WINGS - was inspired by the phenomenon of bird migration and was attended by a number of international personalities from the worlds of art, business and conservation.
Since then, WMBD has been celebrated annually and has been growing in popularity each year. The global campaign continues to be organized centrally from Bonn, Germany by the CMS and AEWA Secretariats. Every year more countries, organizations and people are joining the campaign.
COUNTRIES CELEBRATING THIS DAY
World Migration Bird Day is celebrated across countries such as Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Every year people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions to celebrate World Migration Bird Day.
VARIOUS TYPES OF MIGRATORY BIRDS
There are many migratory birds. Some of these are Geese, greater flamingo, Siberian crane, red wing, swallow, etc. Let’s know more about some of these…!!!
1. GEESE
Geese are prolific birds of the Anatidae family and are divided into two main genera; the white and grey geese of Anser and the black geese of Branta. Many species of goose are extremely cold-hardy and breed in the furthest reaches of the Arctic circle. They can live between 10 to 20 years on an average.
The majority of geese live in the Northern Hemisphere and migrate every autumn in winter, from around September until December. The precise date of migration varies with the cold. In a particularly cold autumn, geese might leave earlier than expected. If the winter is mild, geese might migrate as late as December or even January.
Geese typically migrate to temperate climates during the winter. Warmth is not the primary motivation for migration, though. Instead, geese migrate in quest of abundant food sources. This takes them to southern Canada, the USA and much of western and central Europe.
2. FLAMINGO
The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Flamingos are generally long lived, surviving for an average of 20 to 30 years, though some have lived up to 50 years. In October, once the rains have retreated from the Rann of Kutch, flamingos set off on their annual migration from their breeding grounds there to their feeding grounds, like the wetlands of Mumbai.
3. SIBERIAN CRANE
The Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus), also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all snowy white, except for their black primary feathers that are visible in flight, and with two breeding populations in the Arctic tundra of western and eastern Russia. The eastern populations migrate during winter to China, while the western population winters in Iran and (formerly) in Bharatpur, India. Their average life span is 36 years.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS TO HAVE MIGRATORY BIRDS
Migratory birds are seasonal guests with a positive impact. They play an essential and indispensable role in the ecosystems they reside in and travel through. Such birds raising broods end up acting as pest control agents by devouring insects and other organisms that harm the environment and crops. Locust attack is one such disaster that stems from the absence of birds. Migratory birds help in dispersal of seeds, leading to maintenance of biodiversity along their routes.
Ducks can transport fish eggs in their guts to new water bodies. The droppings of birds, also known as guano, are rich in nitrogen and act as organic fertilizers. Egg shells can add calcium and other minerals.
Migratory birds play the role of both prey and predator in ecosystems seasonally and, therefore, have an ecological impact. Prevalence of migratory birds helps analyze the state of the environment in an area. Hence, they are known as ecosystem engineers.
ON THE MOVE TO A SAFER WORLD FOR MIGRATORY BIRDS
The Earth’s great travelers – birds that sometimes trek thousands of miles between their breeding places and their wintering grounds – will be center stage this World Migratory Bird Day, as the international community recognizes their significance and vulnerabilities. “Unifying Our Voices for Bird Conservation” is the global aim.
The UN global awareness function by raising an environmental education campaign focusing the need for international cooperation to conserve migratory birds. As, 40 percent of all migratory birds are seeing their number in decline, with one in eight being threatened with global extinction. Major threats include habitat loss and degradation, collision with badly placed wind turbines and power lines, unsustainable harvesting and the illegal killing and taking of birds.
Migratory birds are also heavily affected by poisoning, for example through ingested lead, a highly toxic heavy metal that is used for both fishing weights and hunting. When fired from a shotgun, hundreds of lead pellets fall into the wider environment putting wildlife at risk. “Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet. Their epic journeys inspire people of all ages, across the globe. World Migratory Bird Day is an opportunity to celebrate the great natural wonder of bird migration – but also a reminder that those patterns, and ecosystems worldwide, are threatened by climate change,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The efforts to conserve migratory birds both globally and regionally are internationally coordinated by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, also known as the Bonn Convention) and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). The two UN Environment-administered treaties have been spearheading World Migratory Bird Day since 2006.
1) The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. CMS and its related Agreements on migratory birds bring together governments and other stakeholders to coordinate and further develop conservation policies, to ensure that all flyways in the world benefit from coordination mechanisms that promote cooperation at ground level among the countries involved.
2) The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is an intergovernmental treaty dedicated to the conservation of migratory waterbirds that migrate along the African-Eurasian Flyway. The Agreement covers 254 species of birds ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of their annual cycle.
The new collaboration is between CMS, AEWA and the US-based Environment for the Americas, bringing together efforts along the world’s main migration corridors, also called flyways, for celebrations all across the world – and for the first time, with two campaign days in the year, coinciding with peak times of bird migration in May and October.
REFERENCES
2. https://www.google.com/s?q=Geese&deb=0mobile1gsa&hl=hi&uuld=28.639233,77.191574&ctxsl_trans=1&tlitetxt=Geese&tlitesl=en&tlitetl=hi&expflags=GenieDiscoverability__enable_discoverability:false&ctxs=2&pf=c&sns=1
5. https://www.fawco.org/global-issues/environment/environment-articles/4322-migratory-birds-land-and-climate-change
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