Late summer season is a time of change for a lot of—holidays ending and faculty years starting. It’s additionally a season of celebration as we get pleasure from autumn harvests and fall festivals and start our preparations for the approaching winter. For birds, the transition from summer season to winter creates a time of change as migratory birds start flying south to their wintering grounds. Within the Mississippi Flyway alone, greater than 350 migratory chicken species will journey southward for the winter, stopping alongside the Mississippi River and all through the river area to relaxation and feed as they go. We have fun these outstanding feats on World Migratory Chook Day (WMBD)—a biannual celebration, as soon as for fall migration (this 12 months on October 10, and once more within the spring.
Every fall, migratory birds give us a snapshot of the river’s well being. When wetlands, backwaters, and floodplain forests are thriving, birds discover the meals and shelter they want. When these habitats disappear, birds are sometimes among the many first to point out us that one thing is out of stability. WMBD reminds us that birds and individuals are linked and that we should take heed to what birds are telling us about habitats just like the Mississippi River. Audubon’s Mississippi River Water program is constructing a extra resilient and ecologically vibrant future for the river and migratory chicken flyway, in addition to the over 20 million individuals who depend on the river for water, jobs, recreation, and resilience.
The Mississippi River is a big, complicated river and floodplain ecosystem that was traditionally characterised as a wealthy mosaic of braided channels, islands, lakes, and wetlands supporting various vegetation and wildlife. Sadly, tens of millions of acres of wetlands had been misplaced all through the river’s 1.2 million sq. mile basin, degrading the river from its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf. The infrastructure put into place to management water movement and to facilitate financial improvement and navigation additionally impacted the pure flood cycle, with penalties for ecosystems and in some instances, heightening the impacts of pure disasters and extreme climate.
Audubon envisions a wholesome and linked community of habitats all through the Mississippi River area that helps sustainable chicken populations and strengthens the resilience of human communities in opposition to each human-made and pure threats. Some 60 p.c of North American migratory chicken species, together with the Northern Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Parula, and Wooden Thrush, depend on the habitats of the Mississippi River for his or her migratory journeys. They want wholesome habitats to assist them on their lengthy flights south.
Audubon is working all through the Mississippi Flyway on applications and tasks to revive the river and uplift group voices. As we glance to WMBD and the lengthy migratory flights of tens of millions of birds within the coming months, Audubon stands able to have fun the migratory journey from north to south, marking the transition geographically and seasonally, and reminding us of the significance of flyway habitat just like the Mississippi River.
