When the clever minds of the world were analyzing the airplane, their first thought must have been how will this mighty steel giant navigate its way in the sky? There can’t be any diversion signs, or navigating arrows up there! Nature has the answer of course! The migratory bird has been doing that for their whole lives. Every year, migratory birds travel long distances to breed and feed. Taking off from the northern breeding areas landing on the southern wintering grounds. World Migratory Bird Day is a day to raise awareness to conserve the environment for the migratory bird.
A Brief Hi-Hello
The annual World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) campaign raises awareness of the need of protecting migrating birds and their habitats. It has a worldwide reach and is a powerful instrument for increasing public awareness of the dangers migrating birds face, the value of their habitats, and the need for international collaboration to protect them.
To commemorate WMBD, individuals from all over the world conduct public activities such as bird festivals, educational initiatives, exhibitions, and birding outings.
All of these events can be carried out at any time of the year because different nations and areas experience migration peaks at various periods, but the primary days for global celebrations are the second Saturdays in May and October.
Importance of The Migratory Bird
A wonder of nature is avian migration. 20% of all bird species known to science—more than 2,000 species—travel great distances for breeding and feeding. They travel tens of thousands of miles in the air in search of the ideal habitats and biological circumstances for eating, reproducing, and rearing their young. When breeding sites experience unfavorable conditions, it is time to fly to areas with better weather.
There are several variations of migratory patterns. Most birds make the journey from their northern breeding habitats to their southern wintering grounds.
To take advantage of the warmer coastal temperatures in winter, some birds breed in southern Africa and migrate to northern wintering grounds or horizontally. Other birds spend the winter in the lowlands and migrate to the mountains in the summer.
A quick fact about migratory birds- the Bar-Headed Goose is the highest-flying migratory bird on the planet. This incredible animal frequently reaches heights of up to 5.5 miles above sea level!
You might assume that because it is a native of central Asia, it must ascend to such heights to cross the Himalayan Mountains on its migration route.
Humans Affecting The Migratory Bird
Many migratory birds are particularly sensitive to environmental changes, and climate change effect on migratory birds can be seen. Extreme weather, changing flora, and rising temperatures all have a substantial impact on the vital habitats of birds.
These are frequently possible causes for the decrease in bird populations and modifications to migration patterns.
Different migratory bird species react to these environmental changes in different ways: In general, birds that migrate over short and moderate distances may adjust to climatic change more readily than those that migrate over vast distances.
Climate change’s effect on Migratory birds can be seen in more ways than one. Their migratory patterns are often more set, and they have a hard time readjusting to temperature changes. They are more vulnerable than other birds to the effects of climate change as a result of their rigidity.
“Human-induced climate change has begun to affect our planet and the organisms that live on it. Many migrating birds are very sensitive to environmental changes and are already being affected by climate change,” –Official website of World Migratory Bird Day
Communication Towers And The Migratory Bird
According to specialists, the radiation from mobile communication towers has significantly hampered the arrival of migrating birds, as seen by the decline in their population over the last year.
Their innate sense of direction is compromised by the radiation from cell phone towers.
“The brain cells in the migratory birds help them track the route between the North and South Pole. Therefore during odd seasons they migrate to India and go back when the environment in their native place turns pleasant,” said Ram Lakhan Singh, former principal chief conservator of forest
Both cellular phone base stations and cellular phones are crucial to our daily lives. They are not merely free-standing towers; rather, they are a balloon of invisible electromagnetic radiations that continue to endanger the nearby life, particularly the birds.
Since the development of wireless technology, the electromagnetic field’s airborne propagation has dramatically increased. Electromagnetic radiation emissions from a small number of radio or television transmitters were the norm before the invention of mobile phones.
Many nations have noticed a decline in bird diversity that coincides with the expansion of GSM 900 or 1800 cellular mobile base stations.1
Caring, Conservation, and Countries
Saving the Migratory bird is a responsibility of not just me and you, but the world as a whole.
Recently in 2020 at the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13), which will take place in Gandhinagar, India, and Russia have proposed working together to protect migratory arctic bird species and to support India’s efforts to protect birds.
Under this, the countries pledged to make efforts to clear the Central Asian Flyway of migratory birds.
The Flyway includes numerous significant waterbird migratory routes, the majority of which go from the southernmost non-breeding (wintering) areas in West and South Asia, the Maldives, and British Indian Ocean Territory to the northernmost breeding areas in the Russian Federation (Siberia).
Bird migration is a rare occurrence in nature. Of the 11,000 bird species in the world, about 2,000 migrate, covering countless miles in search of the ideal habitats and conditions.
A dozen different bird species, including pink flamingos, pelicans, cranes, and others, are moving into Kazakhstan to fly and lay their eggs.
Since 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Government of Kazakhstan, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) have worked together to implement several initiatives aimed at the integrated conservation of priority globally significant wetlands serving as migratory birds’ nesting and habitat in Kazakhstan.
