NEW YORK (September 15, 2022) – Today, as millions of birds are flocking to their wintering grounds, the National Audubon Society and nine partner organizations announced the Bird Migration Explorer (www.BirdMigrationExplorer.org), a state-of-the-art digital platform that reveals migration data consolidated for 458 bird species found in the United States and Canada. The free, interactive platform, available in English and Spanish, allows users to see the most complete data collected on migratory species in their neighborhoods and where those birds go throughout the year. (The Bird Migration Explorer is best viewed on a desktop browser.)

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The Bird Migration Explorer reveals insights about the journeys of individual species, the connectedness, through migratory birds, of any given location in the hemisphere, and also details how migratory birds encounter 19 different conservation challenges. For example, at least 299 species connect New York City to at least 30 other countries and territories in the hemisphere, including places as far away as Argentina and Uruguay. And, the famous “River of Raptors” migration corridor in Veracruz, Mexico, is a hub connecting the extreme northern and southern ends of the globe.  

The Bird Migration Explorer can also show when each of these species passes through New York, Veracruz, or any other location, and the extent to which each of those species overlaps with any number of conservation challenges such as light pollution or power lines along their journeys. More generally, a user can see how countries in the Americas are all connected to each other by migratory birds, underscoring the importance of international cooperation and collaboration in the research and conservation of these species. 

“People have always been curious and amazed by migratory birds and their incredible journeys, but only recently are scientists piecing together the full picture of how these birds travel from one end of the globe to the other,” said Dr. Jill Deppe, senior director of Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative, the founding organization of the Bird Migration Explorer.

“Migratory birds also need our help—populations are facing steep declines across the board. By consolidating and visualizing these data, the Bird Migration Explorer can teach us more about how to protect these incredible travelers that connect people across the entire hemisphere,” said Deppe.

Since 1970, North America has lost more than 2.5 billion migratory birds. By visualizing and highlighting the places birds need not only during breeding and wintering seasons, but also throughout the migratory periods in between, the Bird Migration Explorer provides a scientific basis for necessary conservation policies and solutions to address these steep declines. 

“We’re in a golden age of bird migration research and technology, and by consolidating all of these data into one interactive platform, we can better understand which places can have the biggest impact to help migratory birds,” said Melanie Smith, director of the Bird Migration Explorer for Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative. “The unprecedented volume and integration of the Bird Migration Explorer’s data can lead to better conservation efforts and results.”

The Bird Migration Explorer brings together three types of geospatial bird data: abundance data from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird Status models; connectivity data from the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center Bird Banding Lab and Bird Genoscape Project; and tracking data from Birds Canada, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and hundreds of researchers from across the globe, who generously contributed their datasets to this project. Audubon scientists and cartographers consolidated these data to create animated and interactive visualizations to bring species migration to life on a map.   

The Bird Migration Explorer includes:  

  • Interactive, animated maps of the full annual migration for 458 species 
  • More than 4.2 million point-to-point migratory bird connections across the hemisphere 
  • Visualizations for 19 selected Conservation Challenges that migratory birds are exposed to throughout the year across the Americas. 

“The most effective migratory bird conservation efforts are informed by the best-available science, engage local communities, and are supported by partners and governments across their migratory ranges,” said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer for the National Audubon Society. “The Bird Migration Explorer makes it plain to see how connected we are by these incredible birds. It’s clearer than ever that we have a collective responsibility and opportunity across the hemisphere to protect these birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow.” 

The Bird Migration Explorer reflects an extraordinary partnership among science, conservation, and technology organizations and institutions and is made possible with data from the following partner organizations and more than 500 studies from researchers and institutions from around the world.  

To learn more about migratory birds, the journeys they make, and the challenges they experience along the way, please visit the Bird Migration Explorer here: www.birdmigrationexplorer.org.