Calendar of Events

International Migratory Bird Day started in 1993, and is celebrated annually on the second Saturday of May. It is a chance for conservationists, natural resource agencies, families and individuals to celebrate birds and bird migration.

The conservation theme this year is Water: Sustaining Bird Life, and focuses on the importance of water to migratory birds.

Virtually all migratory birds rely on water and some type of wetland habitat at some point during their life cycles. Lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands, coastal marshes, and oceans are vital for feeding, drinking, or nesting, and are extremely important as places to rest and refuel during migration.

Aquatic ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened around the world, and so too are the migratory birds that depend on them. The increasing human demand for water, as well as pollution and the impacts of climate change , are having a direct impact on the quantity and quality of water resources and on the conservation status of many migratory bird species.

Source: Valerie Fellows, Migratory Bird Program Communications Coordinator, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.