Mission Statement
- Unique in its exclusive focus on migratory birds and its combination of research, education and training, and policy work, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center is dedicated to fostering greater understanding, appreciation, and protection of the grand phenomenon of bird migration.
- Our work is proactive. Trying to save species that have been pushed to the brink of extinction is always difficult—and often futile. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center focuses on clarifying the causes for declines in migratory bird populations before the situation becomes desperate. By acting now to protect the habitats on which these birds depend, we can avoid the need for expensive last-ditch rescue attempts in the future.
- Our approach is interactive and interdisciplinary. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center bridges the academic, policy-making, and public worlds to coordinate efforts to protect migratory birds and their habitats. We bring public and policy issues to bear on our research—looking both at the way human-made changes affect bird populations and the way bird habitat preservation will affect human populations—and we translate our research findings into recommendations for public and policy action.
- Our reach is international. Migratory birds do not recognize political, cultural or economic boundaries. Collectively, they use habitats that span the globe—so efforts to protect them must be international in scope. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's research, education, and policy efforts extend throughout the Americas, to protect all the habitats that are crucial to the annual pilgrimage of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere.
