Partners

Birds Canada and Motus

Birds Canada is the country’s only national organization dedicated to bird conservation. Birds Canada's mission is to drive action to increase the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of birds in Canada. They use data collected by more than 70,000 citizen scientists across Canada, in addition to innovative research and conservation projects such as the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, to identify changes and impacts to bird populations, and direct conservation planning efforts to improve the health and status of Canada’s birds and habitats. Birds Canada's Motus, NatureCounts and Key Biodiversity Areas platforms allow users to collect, archive, interpret, and access wildlife data to advance the understanding of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System (Motus) is an international collaborative research network that uses coordinated automated radio telemetry to facilitate research and education on the ecology and conservation of migratory animals (birds, bats, and insects). Motus is a program of Birds Canada in partnership with collaborating researchers and organizations.

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Since 1988, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies has worked to conserve the birds of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, and their habitats, across the breeding, wintering and migratory ranges of these species through an integrated approach of science, education, and land stewardship. They were a founding member of Partners in Flight and helped to develop, maintain, and improve the Avian Conservation Assessment Database and Population Estimates Database. These two databases serve as cornerstones for coordinated bird conservation across North America by providing the latest-available, peer-reviewed data on the vulnerability and conservation status of bird populations, which helps to facilitate a prioritized and unified approach across spatial scales and jurisdictional boundaries.

Read more about Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.

Bird Genoscape Project

The two main goals of the Bird Genoscape Project are to: 1) create comprehensive, visually impactful, migratory flyway maps for North American birds that can be used to motivate conservation efforts across geographic and political boundaries, and 2) to map the potential for bird populations to adapt to climate change. Combined with other life history data, this fine-grained information enables conservation scientists to target limited resources to the places in the annual migratory cycle where they are most needed. When not overseeing research as part of the Bird Genoscape Project, Co-directors, Dr. Kristen Ruegg of Colorado State University and Dr. Tom Smith of the University of California, Los Angeles can be found working to bridge partnerships between academia, NGOs and governmental agencies across the US, Canada, and Latin America in order to translate the science of the Bird Genoscape Project into conservation action.

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is the world’s largest and oldest conservation partnership. They work locally, regionally, and globally to conserve birds, their habitats, and nature. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, as well as identifying, safeguarding, maintaining, and restoring important habitats for birds and nature. BirdLife International supports and connects conservationists worldwide. They have a membership of more than 2.5 million people across 115 country partner organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wild Bird Society of Japan, the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas and is the official International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List authority for birds.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology is dedicated to advancing the understanding and protection of the natural world. The Lab joins with people from all walks of life to make new scientific discoveries, share insights, and galvanize conservation action. The Cornell Lab manages eBird, a collaborative enterprise with hundreds of partner organizations, thousands of regional experts, and hundreds of thousands of users. The eBird Science Team uses state-of-the-art statistical models and machine learning to build visualizations and tools to help decision makers, scientists, and birders alike to better understand migration, abundance patterns, range boundaries, and much more. The team compiles raw eBird data (the when and where people report birds) and high-resolution satellite imagery from NASA, NOAA, and USGS into cutting-edge statistical models to predict when, where, and in what numbers species occur every week of the year.

Read more about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Esri

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. To learn more about Esri, go to esri.com.

Read more about Esri and be sure to read Aerial odysseys: bird migration in the Americas.

The Earth Commons, Georgetown University's Institute for Environment & Sustainability

The Earth Commons, Georgetown University's Institute for Environment & Sustainability, is a hub for environmental and sustainability innovation, research and education to accelerate action on the most pressing issues of our earth. Lead by ornithologist Dr. Peter P. Marra and assembling a team of interdisciplinary experts, researchers, leaders and students, the Earth Commons is transforming the university into a living laboratory and developing scalable solutions for a greener, more sustainable world. Dr. Marra continues his migratory bird research at the Marra Lab, is the founder of the Migratory Connectivity Project, and previously was the head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, where he is now Senior Scientist Emeritus.

Movebank

Movebank is an online platform hosted by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPIAB) that helps thousands of researchers and wildlife managers worldwide manage, share, analyze, and archive animal movement data. The Department of Migration at MPIAB aims to understand and predict the decisions that animals make on their migratory journeys, how they interact with changing environments, and the consequences of their migrations on ecosystems and humans. Movebank partners with government agencies, universities, and conservation organizations and is intended to serve as a global archive for animal movement and bio-logging data. As of January 2022, Movebank contains 3.3 billion animal locations and 3.6 billion other animal-borne sensor measurements, stored in 6,900 user-created studies and describing the movements and behavior of 1,166 taxa. Data owners can choose whether and when to make their data public or share it by request. Movebank has long-term funding through the Max Planck Society and the University of Konstanz and has been developed with support from other generous funders.

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Migratory Connectivity Project

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) is dedicated to understanding, conserving, and championing the grand phenomenon of bird migration. As part of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, SMBC scientists work to conserve migratory species through research and public education that foster a better understanding of migratory birds and the need to protect diverse habitats across the Western Hemisphere.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZP/SCBI) leads the Smithsonian’s global effort to save species, better understand ecosystems and train future generations of conservationists. Its two campuses are home to more than 2,000 animals, including some of the world’s most critically endangered species. Always free of charge, the Zoo’s 163-acre park in the heart of Washington, DC features animals representing 360 species and is a popular destination for children and families. At the Conservation Biology Institute’s 3,200-acre campus in Virginia, breeding and veterinary research on species providing critical data for the management of animals in human care and valuable insights for conservation of wild populations. The Zoo’s staff and scientists work in DC, Virginia, and with partners at field sites across the United States and in more than 30 countries to save species and conserve native habitat. NZP/SCBI is a long-standing accredited member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.

The Migratory Connectivity Project (MCP) is a consortium working to advance the conservation and understanding of migratory animals throughout their life cycle through research, outreach, and education. Since 2014, partners have tracked the migrations of over 800 individuals representing 23 species of birds and have developed many compelling communication projects, including the Atlas of Migratory Connectivity for the Birds of North America. The project is led by the by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and Georgetown University in partnership with over 50 collaborating organizations, including the United States Geological Survey, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, the University of Alberta, and many more. MCP has a primary focus on birds, but has also included work on insects and fish.

Read more about Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

Bird Migration Explorer Advisory Committee

We would like to acknowledge the following individuals who volunteered to serve in an advisory role for the Bird Migration Explorer:

Molly Adams, New York City Audubon, currently Feminist Bird Club
Stephanie Beilke, Audubon Great Lakes
David Borre, Pronatura Noreste
Diana Braithwaite, National Audubon Society
Alex Jahn, Indiana University
Pam Loring, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Corina Newsome, Georgia Audubon, currently National Wildlife Federation
Diego Ochoa, Audubon Americas, currently United Nations Development Programme
Arvind Panjabi, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Purbita Saha, Popular Science

We very much appreciate the time and expertise that they contributed to improving the Bird Migration Explorer.