Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center is dedicated to fostering greater understanding, appreciation, and protection of the grand phenomenon of bird migration.

Founded with Congressional support in 1991 at a time of increased awareness of the conservation issues facing North American migratory songbirds, it was incorporated in the National Zoological Park in 1997.

In 1998 it developed the Bird Friendly coffee^[1][2][3] program, a unique initiative that fosters management practices at coffee farms that are good for birds and highly marketable in the growing "green" business sector. Coffee grown under the program is certified^[4] as shade grown and organic and is marketed to environmentally-aware consumers, whose purchases support the conservation of migratory birds. The criteria for Bird Friendly certification emerged directly from basic research on migratory bird-habitat relationships carried out by Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center scientists.

From an initial focus on the conservation biology of Neotropical songbirds, its research now includes the role of disease in population declines in migratory birds^[5], environmental challenges facing urban and suburban birds and their adaptation to changes in natural and anthropogenic habitats and climate^[6], and the conservation biology of wetland birds^[7].

It is one of the few research groups that has active, multi-year research programs dealing with migratory birds in both their breeding and non-breeding areas, augmented by studies of how specific breeding and non-breeding populations are connected^[8] by migration.

They sponsor advanced undergraduate and graduate students at collaborating institutions, as well as in-house post-doctoral fellowships.

The center's education efforts include the creation^[9] of International Migratory Bird Day, a holiday which is celebrated on the second Saturday of May in the United States and Canada, and on the second Saturday of October in most of Latin America.

Neighborhood Nestwatch^[10], its community-based science and educational outreach program, involves volunteers in monitoring the reproductive success and survival of birds in their communities.

Its Bridging the Americas/Unidos por las Aves program^[11], an education program that partners elementary school classes in the Washington, D.C. area with classes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The goals of the program are

1. to teach students about the migratory birds that connect these two regions of the hemisphere and the need to protect their habitats, and
2. to stimulate an interest in learning about other countries and their cultures.

Since 1993, over 10,000 students from classrooms in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, and Ecuador have participated.

See also

• Shade grown coffee
• West Nile virus

References

1. ^ "Think Before You Drink". www.washingtonpost.com. 2003-02-28. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/295933441.html?dids=295933441:295933441&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+28%2C+2003&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=T.33&desc=Think+Before+You+Drink. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
2. ^ "Wake Up and Smell the Bird-Friendly, Shade-Grown Coffee". www.sfgate.com/chronicle/. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/07/11/SC49485.DTL&hw=coffee&sn=080&sc=227. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
3. ^ "Bird Friendly coffee". www.birdwatchersdigest.com. http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/funbirds/birdnews/bird_coffee.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
4. ^ "Bird Friendly certification". www.ethicalcoffee.net. http://www.ethicalcoffee.net/bird.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
5. ^ Chong, Jia-Rui (2007-05-17). "Study tallies West Nile's toll on continent's birds". latimes.com. http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/17/science/sci-westnile17. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
6. ^ Kaplan, Janice L. (2003-05-02). "Research Program Is for the Birds". washingtonpost.com. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/331547391.html?dids=331547391:331547391&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+02%2C+2003&author=Janice+L.+Kaplan&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Research+Program++Is+for+the+Birds&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
7. ^ "Study: Mangrove Animals Risk Extinction". www.upi.com. http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/07/09/Study-Mangrove-animals-risk-extinction/UPI-36371247165908/. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
8. ^ "Population Connectivity". www.newsdesk.umd.edu. http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1600. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
9. ^ "International Migratory Bird Day". www.birdday.org. http://www.birdday.org/imbd-faq.php. Retrieved 2009-02-02. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "Neighborhood Nestwatch". wamu.org. http://wamu.org/programs/the_animal_house/2009/06/20/. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
11. ^ "Migratory Birds Project". www.hmerida.com. http://www.hmerida.com/english/projectdetails/7. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 

External links

• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center
• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Fellowships
• Neighborhood Nestwatch
• Bridging the Americas