Flyway

Flyway A flyway is a major migratory route used by migratory birds as they travel between seasonal breeding and non-breeding grounds; it connects regions such as the Arctic, Antarctica, Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America. Flyways shape patterns observed in studies by institutions such as the British Trust for Ornithology, United States Geological Survey, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife International, and Wetlands International. Conservation initiatives by organizations including the Ramsar Convention, Convention on Migratory Species, United Nations Environment Programme, World Wildlife Fund, and International Union for Conservation of Nature rely on flyway frameworks.

Definition and Overview

The term describes networks of stopover sites, staging areas, breeding areas, and wintering grounds used by populations tracked by programs like the European Bird Census Council, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, North American Bird Conservation Initiative, African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, and East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership. Flyways are delimited in atlases produced by entities such as the National Audubon Society, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme, BirdLife South Africa, and the Japan Bird Research Association. Historic research by figures associated with the Smithsonian Institution, John James Audubon, Ernest H. Wilson, Alexander Wetmore, and Salim Ali established migration patterns linking regions like the Bering Strait, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden.

Major Global Flyways

Major recognized routes include corridors overlapping the Atlantic Flyway, Pacific Flyway, Mississippi Flyway, Central Asian Flyway, and East Asian–Australasian Flyway as mapped by agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, European Environment Agency, China Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and Indian Ministry of Environment. Key stopover chains involve sites like the Delaware Bay, Wadden Sea, Bohai Sea, Chilika Lake, Lake Baikal, Okavango Delta, Pantanal, Everglades National Park, Sundarbans, and Zambezi River Delta. International agreements impacting these routes include the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, African-Eurasian Migratory Landbirds Action Plan, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and programs by the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation.

Migration Ecology and Behavior

Migration along flyways is shaped by physiological, ecological, and meteorological drivers studied by researchers from Max Planck Society, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, Peking University, and University of Cape Town. Energetics models incorporate data from laboratories like the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Monash University, and Canadian Wildlife Service. Phenomena such as stopover refueling at sites like Moorea, Cape Verde Islands, Galápagos Islands, and Shetland Islands are influenced by climate signals from the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, and Arctic Oscillation. Behaviorally, orientation and navigation studies reference work associated with Niels Bohr Institute collaborations, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, University of California, Berkeley, University of Melbourne, and researchers linked to the Royal Society.

Conservation and Threats

Threats to flyway integrity include habitat loss from projects involving entities like Shell plc, ExxonMobil, Rio Tinto, China Three Gorges Corporation, and Iberdrola, pollution events noted by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, World Resources Institute, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy, and hunting pressures regulated under instruments such as the Migratory Bird Treaty. Disease outbreaks monitored by the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and OIE affect populations using corridors near wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention. Conservation measures promoted by BirdLife International, Wetlands International, IUCN SSC Waterbird Specialist Group, BirdWatch Ireland, and regional bodies like the African Parks Network and Panama Audubon Society include protected areas, habitat restoration, and policy instruments agreed at forums such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, and regional meetings of the European Union.

Monitoring and Research Methods

Monitoring employs banding and ringing programs coordinated by the British Trust for Ornithology, USGS Bird Banding Laboratory, Canadian Bird Banding Office, and national schemes in Japan, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa. Tracking technologies include satellite telemetry from providers linked to NASA, European Space Agency, and manufacturers used in studies by Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, and Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Citizen science platforms such as eBird, iNaturalist, Project FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Count, and Breeding Bird Survey augment data compiled by museums like the Natural History Museum, London, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, and Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Analytical approaches draw on methods from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory collaborations, statistical techniques developed at Imperial College London, and geospatial tools by Esri and Google Earth Engine.

Category:Bird migration