Follow That Bird!

Many migratory birds make fantastic voyages each year. Migration describes the regular annual movements that some animals make between regions where they breed and locations where they spend the rest of the year.

Scientists use different types of tracking technologies to determine the location of a bird at a given point in time.

Download lesson plans for Follow That Bird! A Science and Technology Unite on Tracking Birds. This inquiry-based unit teaches core middle-school science concepts through student exploration of the tools used by Smithsonian scientists to track birds, the data they collect and how new information is used for conservation.

Read about different migratory bird species, such as the Pacific loon and the brown pelican.

Learn about the full annual cycle, which describes a migratory bird’s ecology across the year, including breeding, migration and overwintering periods.