Migraction: Forty-five million migratory birds call for help

14-01-2009

Forty five million. This is the number of migratory birds counted in a single year at French migration watch points and stored in the new Migraction database (www.migraction.net), the new internet tool of the Mission Migration (Migration Study Group). Since 2006, ornithologists and French nature protection groups have cooperated under the initiative of LPO (BirdLife in France) and other funding associations*. Together, they have strived to improve the protection of migratory birds and their habitats.

Migraction has been online for a year and the interactive website provides online data storage in real time, being the most extensive online resource about bird migration in France. A total of 94,929 hours of field work were spent by the volunteers and supporters to count the 45 million birds - a result that a single individual could only have reached after nearly a century!

"The number of conservation-minded people in France is growing steadily. Sooner or later, decision makers will have to take this into account" —Gunter De Smet, Coordinator of the Migration Study Group

Thanks to its unique geographical position, France is an extraordinary crossroads for bird migration, where this amazing natural spectacle can be seen, twice a year. Black Kites Milvus migrans, groups of European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster and many other species cross the country. Along their migratory routes, birds are confronted with natural risks and threats linked to human activities.

The Migration Study Group is working to strengthen the protection of migratory stop-over sites, study the effects of climate change on migratory birds, provide scientific arguments for a more bird-friendly hunting legislation, improve law enforcement and raise public awareness on these issues.

Gunter De Smet, Coordinator of the Migration Study Group, commented: “Perhaps one of the most tangible and satisfying results of the French network of migration watchers is that our stubborn presence in the field has strongly reduced illegal hunting at the major migration bottlenecks. We have halted the illegal shooting of European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur at Pointe de Grave, Gironde, in south-western France while spring hunting of Common Wood-pigeon Columba palumbus has become exceptional. Mentalities are changing slowly and the number of conservation-minded people in France is growing steadily. Sooner or later, decision makers will have to take this into account”.

(*) LPO network, OCL (Organbidexka Col Libre), CORA (Centre ornithologique Rhône-Alpes), GONm (Groupe ornithologique normand), Le Clipon, GOC (Groupe ornithologique corse), Picardie Nature and Observatoire avifaune de la ZPS estuaire et marais de la basse Seine.

If you want to be up-to-date with BirdLife International European stories, register to our electronic Newsletter "BirdLife Europe e-news" by clicking here. Or to hear about news from the global BirdLife network, please click here.

Credits: LPO (BirdLife in France)