Migratory Bird Center News
May. 05, 2021
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has long championed the simple idea that birds matter. When we take care of birds, we take care of the interconnected natural systems that we all depend upon for...
May. 05, 2020
This World Migratory Bird Day, May 9, I hope we see record engagement in birdwatching.
May. 04, 2020
Migratory birds are now flooding across the continent as they return to their nesting grounds this spring. World Migratory Bird Day is on May 9, 2020, as people around the globe welcome birds back—...
Apr. 20, 2020
Join the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center online this World Migratory Bird Day, May 9, in a digital celebration of birds and simple actions you can take from home to help save them.
Dec. 26, 2019
As 2019 comes to a close, we’re continuing to reflect on some of this year’s biggest conservation success stories.
Sep. 20, 2019
Smithsonian scientists tracked Egyptian vultures through 44 countries across 70% of their range. They learned that vultures traveling from Western Europe had shorter, more direct routes to wintering...
Jul. 19, 2019
At first glance, Virginia’s farmlands seem quite peaceful. But beneath the swaying fields of hay lies a bustling ecosystem for the birds that call the grasslands home. One such avian animal—the...
May. 23, 2019
In April, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center spent two weeks in Texas for the second season of “Ecology of Urban Birds,” a program that brings middle school students into the field with...
Apr. 19, 2019
Humans have Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Wire-tailed manakins have social networks, too. For more than 17 years, Smithsonian ornithologist Brandt Ryder has studied this bird's unique social...
Feb. 06, 2019
The Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification seal has evolved twice since the program began 20 years ago. The latest logo is a bold rectangle that features shady habitat, soaring songbirds and the...
Dec. 27, 2018
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is dedicated to saving species. Every year, its team of conservationists here and around the globe works hard to make that mission a...
Dec. 19, 2018
A new paper describes a dragonfly’s full life cycle for the first time. Insects are a critical driver of food webs, so figuring out why their populations are falling dramatically is important for the...
Nov. 30, 2018
As part of the Bird-Friendly Coffee initiative, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ecologist Robert Rice and partners are gearing up to find out which trees in shade coffee farms supply the most food ...
Oct. 22, 2018
Insect-eating birds that depend on high-calorie, high-protein cuisine (namely caterpillars and spiders) to feed their young are finding the menu severely lacking in backyards landscaped with even a...
Apr. 27, 2018
In March, a team of Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center scientists traveled to Texas to begin their annual study of birds that travel through the Gulf of Mexico.
Apr. 20, 2018
Brown pelicans are a favorite of visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s American Trail exhibit. Yet, many zoogoers may not realize that these marine birds call the Chesapeake Bay home. Last...
Apr. 12, 2018
SMBC Director Pete Marra is the recipient of the American Ornithological Society’s prestigious Elliott Coues Award in recognition of his outstanding and innovative ornithological research.
Mar. 14, 2018
In November 2017, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center postdoctoral fellow Alex Jahn traveled to southern Brazil to study the migration of snail kites with Brazilian colleagues at Taim Ecological...
Nov. 22, 2017
With a new statistical tool from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, researchers can take data and better understand the strength of migratory connectivity—whether and when populations spread out...
Oct. 13, 2017
For the first time ever, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Migratory Bird Center has teamed up with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to track the migration of brown...
Sep. 06, 2017
What happens when a migratory bird’s path lands it right in an urban area like Washington, D.C.? Can the city's parks support wild birds through the breeding season, and how do their behaviors change...
Jul. 31, 2017
Following endangered Kirtland's warblers from Michigan to the Bahamas.
Jul. 13, 2017
The island scrub-jay, a songbird endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of southern California, has made headlines in recent years for bucking evolutionary and biological trends—and is at it...
Jun. 30, 2017
Fitted with a GPS device the weight of a paperclip, a gray catbird in the Washington, D.C., area flies south, unaware that the device records its every move. That data is key for conservation...
May. 03, 2017
The period of a migratory bird’s annual cycle thought to be the most perilous—its twice-annual journeys over oceans and inhospitable landscapes—is also the least understood. A new collaborative study...