Contacts
Nicholas Throckmorton, 202-208-5636
Rachel F. Levin, 612-713-5311
The conservation of migratory birds has brought nations closer in a positive way, beginning with the signing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, and continuing with subsequent migratory bird conservation treaties between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Soviet Union and Japan.
Sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) is a celebration of both that transcendent spirit of conservation and the flights of the migratory birds that connect nations and peoples.
International Migratory Bird Day is internationally recognized on Saturday, May 8, but events will happen around the country and throughout the year. This year?s IMBD theme is ?Colonial Waterbirds.?
Around the Midwest, national wildlife refuges, national fish hatcheries and other Fish and Wildlife Service field offices are joining parks, zoos, and schools at bird walks, open houses, festivals, lectures and demonstrations that recognize the ways birds have stimulated people to become involved in conservation and encourage individuals, corporations and organizations to be a part of continuing efforts to protect birds.
The Service?s IMBD website, http://birds.fws.gov/IMBD, contains a listing of these events as well as links to additional information on migratory bird conservation, including the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. The IMBD 2004 art and materials portray ten bird species symbolizing conservation laws, programs, and organizations that have benefited birds, the environment and humans alike.
Colonial birds nest together and biologists estimate that 1 in 8 bird species worldwide nest colonially. Colony sites take many forms: mud nests plastered on vertical surfaces, burrows riddling a seaside cliff, a stretch of depressions in a sandy beach, or bulky stick nests forming a woodland rookery. Colonies also vary in size from a few to sometimes millions of birds packed together.
International Migratory Bird Day was created in 1993 to focus public attention on the need to conserve birds and their habitats. This annual event celebrates one of the most important and spectacular events in the life of a migratory bird: its journey between summer and winter homes. Today, International Migratory Bird Day is recognized in Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands and Central America.
For more information on IMBD, go to http://www.birdday.org.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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