migratory birds , and National Geographic Society grants will be awarded throughout 2018 for the purpose of filling critical knowledge gaps on migratory species . Which is why National Geographic has partnered not only with BirdLife , Audubon and Cornell , in addition to over 200 other environmental NGOs from all around the world ( and growing ) – including numerous BirdLife Partners .
“ This is an effort to rally large-scale public support for protecting birds and places they need to survive ,” says Yarnold . “ Year of the Bird partners will be advocating ways anyone can help support the lives of birds — even small things can help .”
In that vein , one of the key features of Year of the Bird is encouraging people to engage in small monthly actions , or ‘ pledges ’, that everyone can take to protect birds , via a dedicated web portal at www . birdyourworld . org . These pledges are designed to be simple , cheap and doable by all . February ’ s action , for example , invited nature lovers to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count , while March ’ s call to action was to plant native species in your backyard or patio . The idea is to take the love people already feel for migratory birds , and turn it into small , but meaningful and concrete actions which make the environment better for birds .
“ Everybody notices when migratory birds come back ,” says Vicky Jones , BirdLife International ’ s Flyways Science Coordinator , of the connection people feel towards these birds . “ They come back to the same places . They mark
4 Throughout 2018 , every issue of National Geographic will feature a story about birds . Subjects touched upon include falconry , the history of birds and the seabird crisis .
7 Sandhill Crane and chick Antigone canadensis Photo Jo Crebbin
changes in the seasons , or certain parts of the year for people .”
Already , the Year of the Bird has seen some success . February ’ s call to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count , for example , was met with a resounding response . “ This is a citizen science project that enables people all around the world to report what birds they are seeing , which in turn creates a global snapshot of our birds so over time we can track how well they ’ re doing ,” says Dr . Miyoko Chu , Director of Communications at Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology . “ This year , we had a recordbreaking count . Participants submitted 176,905 checklists in four days and they counted 6,310 species , which is phenomenal , when you think about the world having roughly 10,000 species and people collectively counting 6,000 of them .”
In light of recent developments , April ’ s action is to protect migratory birds by finding out what dangers they face , and some solutions we can implement to keep birds safe ; to make sure that seeing a migratory bird never becomes a rare experience . Even just four months into the program , though , the actions being taken on behalf of Year of the Bird offer hope .
“ It ’ s really inspiring that more than 200 truly diverse organizations have joined the Year of the Bird ,” says Chu . “ It makes you realize how much support there is for birds in the world , and how when we bring all our voices together on behalf of birds we can really inspire more people to take action and to help .” apr-jun 2018 • birdlife 15