World Migratory Bird Day

“Migration. Isn’t that what it’s all about? We’re all, by the standard definition of the word, migrating, moving from place to place, hither and yon. Atoms migrate within molecules. Teeth migrate within mouths (though we’d rather they didn’t). But of most importance, particularly to those of us attuned to the rhythms of the natural world, are those glorious migrations of huge numbers of living creatures across the globe…Migrations speak to us, not just as observers of nature but as integral parts of it. The world moves and, deep inside, we long to move with it.”
– Mike Bergin, 10,000 Birds

International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) was originally initiated in 1993 by Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center who wanted to create a day to celebrate the return of millions of migratory birds as they journey northward from wintering grounds in Mexico, Central, and South America to their breeding grounds across the United States and Canada. From 1995 to 2006, the program was under the direction of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. IMBD grew in popularity whereupon the NFWF and USWS found a new home for the program. In 2007, IMBD found its “forever home” at Environment for the Americas (EFTA), a non-profit organization that connects people to bird conservation through education and research. Since 2007, IMBD has grown first into the World Migratory Bird Day in the Americas and then into a global event, World Migratory Bird Day. Today, WMBD includes hundreds of events conducted by local conservation organizations, schools, nature centers, museums, national wildlife refuges, and many others. For more information: http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/