Talon spotting

08-05-2009

This weekend, thousands of people around the world are attending World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) events which highlight the barriers bird face during their long journeys. BirdLife Partners around the world are taking part, and are involved in joined up conservation projects to reduce threats faced by migratory birds.

WMBD is a global initiative to raise awareness for the need to conserve all migratory birds. So far, over 80 activities in 37 countries have been registered on the WMBD website. These include events organised by BirdLife Partners in: South Africa (BirdLife South Africa); Egypt (Nature Conservation Egypt); Armenia (Armenian Society for the Protection of Birds); Nepal (Bird Conservation Nepal); Kenya (NatureKenya); Burundi (Association Burundaise pour la protection des Oiseaux); Canada (Bird Studies Canada); Côte d'Ivoire (des Eaux et Forêts); France (Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux); Germany (NABU); Greece (Hellenic Ornithological Society); Malaysia (Malaysian Nature Society); Palestine (Palestine Wildlife Society); Portugal (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves); Tanzania (Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania); Tunisia (Association “Les Amis des Oiseaux”); and the UK (RSPB).

The theme for this year’s WMBD - Barriers to migration - aims to raise awareness of some of the obstructions birds face during their migration. “Along their paths migratory birds face a number of natural obstacles”, said Dr Jonathan Barnard - BirdLife's Senior Programme Manager. “For example, they have to cope with scarcity of food, predators, hostile weather, mountains, seas and deserts”.

“The number of man-made structures … continues to grow and cause barriers for migratory birds” —Dr Marco Lambertini, BirdLife’s Chief Executive

Yet, humans have created additional obstacles to further complicate their journeys. “Each year the number of man-made structures such as power lines, wind farms, television and mobile phone transmission masts, glass windows, tall buildings and other structures continues to grow and cause barriers for migratory birds”, said Dr Marco Lambertini – BirdLife’s Chief Executive.
These man-made structures cause bird collisions that can result in fatalities. Many birds, especially those which migrate during the night, do not recognise these new obstacles and subsequently collide with power lines, or crash into glass windows. “BirdLife is not opposed in principle to the development of these structures, but strongly advocates for locations which avoid adverse impact on birds, biodiversity and the environment”, commented Dr Lambertini.

Migratory birds are also threatened by climate change and the barriers that this will create through habitat change. “For example, wind turbines are an essential component of our response to climate change, and are therefore important to bird conservation”, said Jonathan Barnard. “Ironically, however, these turbines also add to the man-made obstacles that birds face on their journeys, and so it is critical that these wind turbines are correctly sited and respect conservation guidelines".

“At migration bottlenecks for soaring birds, many birds are killed as they collide with man-made barriers” —Dr Jonathan Barnard, Senior Programme Manager at BirdLife International

One of the most susceptible types of migrant are soaring birds – such as large birds of prey - which are funnelled in their thousands each year along predictable routes which avoid large bodies of water and high mountains. “At migration bottlenecks for soaring birds, many birds are killed as they collide with man-made barriers”, said Jonathan Barnard.

BirdLife's Migratory Soaring Birds project aims to address these threats, as well as habitat alteration, pollution and illegal hunting. “We are working with key economic sectors to better understand the underlying causes of the threats to soaring birds, and develop best practice guidelines", commented Jonathan Barnard. This will be achieved through regional awareness-raising and training, combined with six pilot projects in partnership with the key stakeholders across the Middle East and northeast Africa.

‘Mainstreaming Conservation of Migratory Soaring Birds into Key Productive Sectors along the Rift Valley / Red Sea Flyway’ project is being executed by BirdLife International in partnership with national NGO partners and government agencies in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The project is funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). World Migratory Bird Day was initiated by the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) Secretariat in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in 2006.

This news is brought to you by Born to Travel - BirdLife's Flyways Campaign. To read more about the BirdLife Partnership’s global work to save migratory birds, click here.

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