Words by Smiley Team
Falling on 8th May 2021, World Migratory Bird Day is an annual awareness-raising event to spotlight the importance of conserving migratory birds and their habitats. To mark the occasion, here are our top positive news stories about migratory bird species.
For the first time in 170 years, Borneo’s black browed babbler has been spotted in Indonesia. This small, grey-brown bird was seen by two birdwatchers in the country’s South Kalimantan Province before reporting the sighting to Dr. Ding Li Yong, conservationist at BirdLife International in Singapore. “This is a really big deal for Indonesian ornithology—as shocking as rediscovering the passenger pigeon or Carolina parakeet,” Dr Ying told the New York Times.
With the help of conservation charity Birdlife International, some of Brazil’s most threatened birds are returning and bringing numerous other species with them. By reintroducing birds like the The Black-fronted Piping-guan Pipile jacutinga, conservationists have ensured the bird spreads seeds other animals do not distribute, rebuilding the forest’s biodiversity.
Albatrosses have a worrying tendency to get snagged in fishing lines or collide with trawl net parts. As a result fisheries in Namibia were found to kill a tragic 22,000 to 30,000 birds a year. But after a law passed that required fishermen to attach coloured streamers behind their boats, a study found this simple trick reduced seabirds’ deaths by 98 per cent.
A study by scientists at Cornell University and the University of Oregon has found that American air pollution laws may have saved over 1.5 billion birds from dying due to dirty air. The NOx (nitrogen oxide) Budget Trading Program was started by the US Environmental Protection Agency to protect human health by limiting summertime industrial emissions. Among the birds to benefit most were small migratory species.
Conservation charity Birdlife International is aiming to educate young people about the importance of conserving birdlife through a new board game. The game, called Fly-A-Way will help players learn about the risks faced by millions of migratory birds as they travel along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
