International Migratory Bird Day

Join WBS for our 1^st Celebration of International Migratory Bird Day

Please, join us May 8 as we celebrate International Migratory Bird Day from 7:30 am to 12:00 pm.

A Nuthatch that has just been banded being measured, weighed,  and checked for parasites before being released

You may be asking yourself what is International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD)?  IMBD celebrates and brings attention to one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas-bird migration.  Each year migratory bird day celebrates birds and people.  In 2010, International Migratory Bird day celebrates both birds and the people who have preserved bird species.  We are celebrating the power of partnerships and what they do to help birds.

Our beautiful young Peregrine Falcon, Millenium, showing off her juvenile plumage

World Bird Sanctuary will celebrate bird migration, and our part in helping to bring endangered species like the once endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle back, and our partners along the way.  Did you know that through the efforts of WBS and local businesses, including Southwestern Bell, Ameren UE, Anheuser Busch, to name just a few, we helped to bring the peregrine falcon back to Missouri?  In the early 1990’s our efforts resulted in the first nesting Peregrine Falcon hatched in the wild in over 100 years.  Today, we still monitor nests located on properties owned by AT&T, Barnes Jewish Hospital, Washington University, and Ameren, along with 3 other sites. 

Our veteran Peregrine Falcon, Edgar, sporting the plumage of a mature bird

This project has been possible with the help of employees at these locations who watch the nests each year.  They let us know how many eggs they have and when the eggs hatch.  Because of their involvement we are able to monitor the status of these nesting pairs. WBS staff then go out to those locations every year and band the young so that if they are ever found or trapped they can be tracked back to St. Louis, and we will know what year they were hatched and from which location they originated.  In this way we  may be able to discover more about the birds’ migration route.  

This is just one of our partnership projects.  Join us May 8 and learn about some of our other projects, including work at the Air Force Bases, Nestbox Studies, and the Woodpecker project.

Have you ever wanted to try bird watching?  Join, a member of our field studies team on a 30-minute walk around the site to see a few migrants.  Walks will be at 8, 9, 10, and 11.  Learn some of the basics of bird watching and discover just how easy it is to participate in the fastest growing hobby in the United States.

A black capped chickadee being removed from a mist net prior to banding

Activities for this fun event celebrating bird migration will include birdbanding demonstrations and band a kid.  Kids of all ages can be banded. They will learn about the process of bird banding and then see actual live birds being banded.


Mark your calendars for this exciting free event!
Date:  Saturday, May 8
Time:  7:30 am to 12:00 pm
For directions click here.


For the safety of the birds and our other guests, no pets please.

Submitted by Cathy Spahn, Field Studies Coordinator