Statement by Dr. Jane Smart on World Migratory Bird Day 2018

Important new research published this week in Nature Ecology & Evolution by Marius Somveille and colleagues shows how bird migration is driven by energetic constraints, which affect species’ resources and costs in terms of thermoregulation. With human activities affecting global temperature, precipitation and landuse, it is to be expected that the global system of bird migration will change in the future, and indeed such changes are already being observed in some species. Urgent and effective conservation action is essential to allow the persistence of many of the 1,500 or so bird species that migrate.