6 October 2026
On Saturday, 10 October 2026,
World Migratory Bird Day will mark its second annual
celebration of the year, recognising the invaluable
contributions of the people whose observations help
scientists and conservationists understand bird migration,
track population changes and identify important sites across
the world’s flyways.
Under the theme “Every
Bird Counts – Your Observations Matter!,”
the 2026 campaign highlights the role of community science,
also referred to as citizen science, in migratory bird
conservation. By reporting a marked bird, sharing a sighting
through a citizen science app, participating in an
established community science project or taking part in
local surveys, people around the world are providing
valuable information that supports research, conservation
and policy. Anyone can help improve our knowledge of
birds.
Online apps provide especially accessible and
inclusive tools for contributing observations, allowing
people to participate from wherever they are and in ways
that fit their interests, experience and available
time.
Because migratory birds cross countries,
continents and the ocean, understanding their movements
requires observations from many locations over long periods.
Community and citizen science extend the reach of monitoring
efforts, helping reveal changes in migration patterns,
population trends, habitat conditions and
threats.
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Nine migratory bird species have been
selected as ambassadors for this year’s campaign: Cinnamon
Teal, Merlin, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Barn Swallow,
American Oystercatcher, Pied Oystercatcher, Eurasian
Oystercatcher, Spoon-billed Sandpiper and the Abdim’s
Stork.
Tracking the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Across Its
Flyway
The Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris
pygmaea) is a tiny, Critically Endangered shorebird that
breeds in the Arctic tundra of northeastern Russia and
migrates to coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia. Its
survival depends on a chain of wetlands along the East
Asian–Australasian Flyway.
The International
Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the
Spoon-billed Sandpiper 2025–2035
developed under the East Asian–Australasian
Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) shows how local monitoring
contributes to a coordinated flyway-wide effort. Annual
monitoring is taking place at many key sites, often led by
local groups. With only around 350–550 Spoon-billed
Sandpipers remaining, every sighting of a marked or unmarked
bird is particularly valuable. Careful recording of leg
flags or bird rings – brightly coloured bands around a
bird’s leg with a unique code to support individual
monitoring – is helping refine estimates of the species’
global population size and trend.
More than 2,000
sightings have so far been submitted to the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper Taskforce sightings reporter
database. People can also participate in initiatives such as
the International
Waterbird Census (IWC) to contribute to broader
information about the wetlands on which the species
depends.
Local conservation groups in Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Russia and Thailand help protect and monitor
important habitats for this species. In Bangladesh and
Myanmar, some groups include former hunters who monitor
hunting trends and support shorebird protection. This is
particularly important because the species continues to
decline, with hunting and habitat loss remaining major
threats.
Recording Barn Swallows Close to
Home
Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) live in
close proximity to people and often build their distinctive
mud nests on buildings, bridges and homes. Because these
nests are so visible, members of the public can help monitor
the species’ breeding activity by recording nests and
sightings. Across the Americas, a growing network of people
interested in science and nature is doing exactly that, with
as many as 2,000 people gathering data along 3,000 routes
surveyed by the North American Breeding Bird Survey
(BBS).
Data from the BBS, a long-term and
long-running, volunteer-driven community science programme,
shows that Barn Swallow populations have declined by an
estimated 38% to 44% across North America since 1966. The
losses have been especially severe in Canada, where the BBS
documented a 68.6% decline between 1970 and 2019. This
species is listed as Threatened under Canada’s Species at
Risk Act.
That population picture is strengthened by
sustained public participation over time. NestWatch combines
contemporary observations with historical nest-record cards
dating back to 1965. From 2019 to 2021, 10,915 people
participated in the crowdsourced transcription initiative
Nest Quest Go!, helping digitize thousands of historical
nest records and expanding the long-term dataset available
for research.
Across NestWatch’s historical
database, volunteers have logged more than 15,000 Barn
Swallow nest attempts.
Mapping Abdim’s Stork Across
Southern Africa
The Abdim’s Stork (Ciconia
abdimii) – a migratory waterbird listed on the
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) –
often breeds in iconic Baobab trees and other large trees
within or near villages, from Mali in West Africa to the
southwestern Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. During the
non-breeding season, it migrates to East and southern
Africa. Citizen science supports ongoing research and fills
monitoring gaps for this species.
Long-term
initiatives like the Second
Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2)
showcase this impact through a dedicated network in which
approximately 5,000 registered citizen scientists, with
about 500 active contributors, regularly submit distribution
records for various species, including 241 records for the
Abdim’s Stork alone in 2026.
How to Take Part in
Community Science
World Migratory Bird Day encourages
people to join established community-science projects and
follow their monitoring methods so that observations can
support research and conservation. The WMBD 2026 Campaign
Toolkit, available
in English, Spanish
and French,
explains how people can participate.
Quotes from the
Main Partners of the World Migratory Bird Day
Campaign
“For generations, people have helped
deepen our understanding of bird migration by sharing what
they see in nature. Today, digital platforms and community
science initiatives are bringing these observations together
on an unprecedented scale, creating a powerful crowdsourced
resource for scientists and conservationists. This global
effort is informing conservation action across borders and
throughout entire flyways. Every observation counts, helping
to ensure that future generations can continue to benefit
from the immense value that migratory birds bring to our
world.” – Andy Raine, Executive Secretary,
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (CMS)
“The Abdim’s Stork,
an AEWA-listed species featured on this year’s World
Migratory Bird Day poster, is one of many migratory
waterbird species being documented through citizen science
work across the African-Eurasian flyways. As we celebrate
World Migratory Bird Day and the 60th anniversary of the
International Waterbird Census, we pay tribute not only to
the tens of thousands of volunteers contributing to this
remarkable global monitoring effort, but also to the many
people participating in other citizen science initiatives,
such as bird atlases, across Africa, Eurasia and along all
the world’s flyways. Their observations provide essential
data that contribute to status assessments and influence
policy decisions under AEWA, reminding us that every bird
counts and every observation matters.” – Sergey
Dereliev, Acting Executive Secretary, Agreement on the
Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
(AEWA)
“A single observation, a bird with a
tiny colour ring seen on a beach, a band recorded during a
morning birdwatch, a flock counted on a winter wetland—can
unlock a story of migration that spans countries and
cultures. Each observation becomes a thread of knowledge
that connects places, people, and ecosystems across the
globe.” – Jennifer George, Chief Executive, East
Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership
(EAAFP)
“Migratory birds connect
some of the largest landscapes on Earth, traveling across
mountains, forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastlines and
cities as they move between breeding and wintering grounds.
Along these vast journeys, they depend on countless places
to rest, habitats where they feed and raise their young, and
the places where they spend the non-breeding season. They
also depend on people who help protect those places. Every
contribution to community science adds to our understanding
of these journeys and helps build the knowledge we need to
conserve birds across their entire range and throughout
their life cycles. When people contribute along the way, we
become part of the journey too.” – Susan
Bonfield, Executive Director, Environment for the Americas
(EFTA)
About World Migratory Bird Day
(WMBD)
World Migratory Bird Day is an international
educational and awareness-raising campaign that promotes
conservation efforts for migratory birds and their journeys
across borders.
The campaign is organised and
coordinated by a global network of partners whose work
focuses on the conservation of migratory birds across the
world’s various flyways: the Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the
Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory
Waterbirds (AEWA), the East Asian–Australasian Flyway
Partnership (EAAFP) and Environment for the Americas
(EFTA).
Celebrated on two days each year (in 2026, on
9 May and 10 October) to reflect the cyclical nature of bird
migration and the varying peak migration periods in the
northern and southern hemispheres, World Migratory Bird Day
triggers hundreds of educational events around the world,
united by their common goal of raising awareness and
advocating for international bird protection.
Each
year the campaign features a central theme, prompts action
and coordinates global efforts to safeguard migratory birds
and their habitats. To find World Migratory Bird Day events
near you, access educational and conservation resources,
register your own events and learn how to get involved,
visit
www.worldmigratorybirdday.org
About
the Convention on Migratory Species
(CMS)
TheConvention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)is a legally
binding international treaty under the United Nations. CMS
is one of the most important global frameworks for wildlife
conservation and plays a vital role in addressing the global
biodiversity crisis.
By fostering international
collaboration, supporting research, and developing
conservation agreements and actions among the Range States
in which these species are found, CMS ensures the long-term
survival of migratory species of wild animals and their
habitats, and the vital benefits they provide.
132
countriesplus the European Union areParties to CMS. In
addition, several non-Party countries have signed one or
more binding CMS Agreements to protect migratory
species.Learn more at
www.cms.int
About the Agreement on the
Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
(AEWA)
The Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is an
inter-governmental treaty dedicated to the conservation of
migratory waterbirds that migrate along the African-Eurasian
flyways. The Agreement covers 255 species of birds
ecologically dependent on wetlands for at least part of
their annual cycle. To date, a total of 84 countries and the
European Union have acceded to the environmental treaty,
which has a geographic range covering 119 countries across
Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Greenland,
and the Canadian Archipelago. Learn more at
www.unep-aewa.org
About the East
Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP)
The
EAAFP is an international Partnership established in 2006 to
provide a framework to promote dialogue, cooperation, and
collaboration to conserve migratory waterbirds and their
habitats in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. It is also
a Ramsar Regional Initiative. A unique element of the
Partnership is its mission to build a chain of
internationally important sites for these birds as they
migrate across the 22 countries of the Flyway. These
countries have the greatest species density on earth yet
have the highest number of vulnerable migratory birds. Over
40 Partners work together across borders to make a
difference for them. For more information, visit www.eaaflyway.org
About
Environment for the Americas (EFTA)
Environment for
the Americas connects people to nature and birds through
research, education, and outreach. At the heart of our
efforts lies the coordination of Wor shared migratory
birds. This work has also led to the development of our
internship programmes, which provide unique opportunities
for the next generation of researchers, conservationists,
and natural resource professionals.
Through these
programmes, we are empowering young people to make a
tangible difference for the environment. EFTA’s efforts
have also spurred international collaborations for bird
conservation and facilitated changes across borders that
ensure a future where migratory birds are protected and
celebrated. Learn more at
www.environmentamericas.org
