The 11th and 12th of May mark World Migratory Bird Day, which launched in 2006 to raise awareness of the need to protect migratory birds. Migratory birds often make several stops on their amazing journeys to a wide array of different habitats across the world. Many of these habitats are of vital importance to these birds, allowing them to rest, feed and breed.

Sadly many of these habitats are also under threat from pollution, development or global warming. To further complicate matters, many migratory routes cross the borders of several countries, meaning that a global conservation effort is required to be effective. This year’s World Migratory Bird Day theme is ‘Networking for Migratory Birds’, which focuses on the need for the relevant organisations to cooperate and network with each other to achieve conservation goals.

The ARKive website has images, videos and facts for many different migratory birds – here are just a few:

The long distance marathon record

The Arctic tern has one of the longest migration routes of any bird, moving from the Arctic and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere all the way over to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. On the plus side, flying so far south for a second summer does mean that the Arctic tern sees the most sunlight per year of any animal.

Almost pole to pole – the Arctic tern

Longest non-stop flight

Imagine travelling up to 10,400 kilometres with no stops whatsoever. The bar-tailed godwit does just that when it migrates from Alaska and Siberia to its wintering grounds in New Zealand. Though averaging an impressive flight speed of 63 kilometres per hour it still takes around 175 hours. That’s what I call a long haul flight!

Bar-tailed godwit flock in flight

Migration en masse for some winter sun

The barn swallow is probably one of the world’s most familiar bird species as it is the most numerous and widespread of all the swallows. It is also a very agile flier, making sharp turns to catch insects on the wing. Before migrating south for the winter, these small birds form flocks of over a million individuals. Quite a sight to behold.

A flock of barn swallows congregating in a tree

The 747 of birds

The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of all birds, at an impressive three and a half metres! Given its name, it probably comes as no surprise that this species gets around quite a bit. Its large wingspan allows the wandering albatross to soar with little effort over long distances.

It will take more than a bit of stormy weather to ground the wandering albatross

George Bradford, ARKive Researcher

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Whooping crane (Grus americana)

Species: Whooping crane (Grus americana)

Status: Endangered (EN)

Interesting Fact: The whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America, reaching up to 1.5 metres in height.

Named for its whooping call, the whooping crane represents one of the best-known conservation success stories in North America. This large white bird is marked with red and black on the face, and has black wing-tips. Whooping cranes usually mate for life, and have a varied diet consisting of crabs, clams, small fish, insects, frogs and other wetland animals, as well as berries and grain. The whooping crane undertakes spectacular migrations of thousands of miles from its nesting grounds in northern North America to its feeding grounds in the south.

Once widespread across North America, the whooping crane has undergone a dramatic decline in recent centuries. By the mid-20th century its migratory population had been reduced to just 16 individuals, and its non-migratory population disappeared entirely. This huge decline resulted from wetland clearance and drainage, as well as egg collecting, hunting and other human disturbances. Human development and collisions with power lines still present threats to this large wetland bird today. Fortunately, the whooping crane has been the subject of concerted conservation efforts, including habitat protection, population monitoring and a captive breeding programme, with captive-bred individuals being released back into the wild. As a result of these efforts, the total whooping crane population has increased to around 599 birds.

Find out more about whooping crane conservation at the International Crane Foundation and the Whooping Crane Conservation Association.

See images and videos of the whooping crane on ARKive.

Liz Shaw, ARKive Text Author

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Eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei)

Species: Eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei)

Status: Endangered (EN)

Interesting Fact: The eastern gorilla is divided into two subspecies, the eastern lowland or Grauer’s gorilla, and the mountain gorilla.

Together with the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), the eastern gorilla is the largest of the living apes. Gorillas have characteristically robust, heavy bodies and dark, shaggy coats, and males are much larger than females. The eastern gorilla lives in stable family groups, led by a dominant ‘silverback’ male, and females in the group give birth around once every three to four years. The eastern lowland gorilla is found in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the mountain gorilla in two isolated populations in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The eastern gorilla faces a range of threats, including snares set for other wildlife, as well as deliberate poaching for bushmeat or to take infants as pets. This species is also surrounded by rapidly increasing human populations, and habitat destruction, illegal cattle grazing and timber extraction are also serious problems, as is political unrest in some areas. Fortunately, the eastern gorilla occurs largely in protected areas and a number of conservation programmes are underway to protect it. Mountain gorillas have been studied for decades, and in some places are protected by armed guards. Visits by tourists pose a risk of disease transmission to the gorillas, but these charismatic primates are recognised as an important source of tourist revenue, which may help to protect them.

Find out more about gorilla conservation at the International Gorilla Conservation Programme and the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP).

See images and videos of the eastern gorilla on ARKive.

Liz Shaw, ARKive Text Author

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You may not have heard of it before, but located 60 kilometres off the north-west coast of Western Australia, Barrow Island is one of the most important conservation reserves in the region. The island itself is around 25 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide, and the arid landscape is mainly dominated by spinifex grasslands.

Around 2,800 species have been recorded on Barrow, including 24 species and subspecies found nowhere else on Earth. Thanks to a world renowned Quarantine Management System to prevent the introduction of harmful invasive species and diseases to the island, some rare species are able to thrive here, despite having been driven to extinction on the mainland.

Marvellous marsupials

The burrowing bettong or ‘boodie’ no longer exists on mainland Australia, and until recently was only found on three islands off the coast of Western Australia including Barrow. The only burrowing member of the kangaroo family, this nocturnal marsupial lives in small groups in an underground burrow or warren which may have just a single entrance, or up to 100! Other marsupials found on Barrow Island include the golden bandicoot, the black-footed rock-wallaby and the Barrow Island euro, a subspecies of the common wallaroo.

Birds on Barrow

Designated as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, 119 bird species have been recorded on Barrow. The island supports a large number of migratory shorebirds including pied oystercatchers and fairy terns, as well as raptors such as the brahminy kite and osprey. Other species commonly seen here include an endemic subspecies of the white-winged fairy wren and the spinifexbird, the most abundant bird on the island, which thrives in the spinifex grasslands.

The predatory perentie

The second largest lizard in the world after the Komodo dragon, the perentie is the top predator on Barrow Island. Prey is easily tracked as the perentie has extremely good eyesight and uses its long tongue to pick up chemical signals in the air. Like other monitor species, the perentie is able to run extremely fast over great distances, reaching speeds of up to 40 kilometres per hour, about the same speed as an Olympic sprinter! Once caught, prey is shaken violently until dead, and then swallowed whole.

An unusual amphibian

Only one species of frog is found on Barrow Island, a desert burrowing frog called Main’s frog. Only seen at the surface during the summer wet season, Main’s frog is able to survive in this arid habitat by spending the rest of the year underground in a state of torpor, retaining water inside its body by sealing itself inside a cocoon. It emerges to breed following heavy rains, with the female laying up to 1,000 eggs into temporary pools of water.

Travelling turtles

Important sea turtle rookeries are found on the shores of Barrow Island, with green turtles and flatback turtles coming ashore to nest between November and February. Undertaking tremendous feats of navigation, an adult green turtle returns to the same beach to breed each season, and some populations of green turtle migrate thousands of kilometres to feed and breed. We have recently developed a brand new Turtle Life Cycle education module to teach students aged 7-11 about the lives of these incredible turtles.

Natural resources on Barrow

As well as being an area of great conservation importance, Barrow Island is also Australia’s largest operating onshore oilfield. More than 300 million barrels of oil have been produced on Barrow Island since 1964, with strict environmental, safety and health standards and procedures having been put in place in order to safeguard the environment and minimise the impact on the island ecosystem.

Find out more about Barrow Island

If you are interested in learning more about conservation on Barrow Island you can find out more from Chevron and the Department of Environment and Conservation.

You can also check out our new Barrow Island feature page and explore a wealth of species found there.

Claire Lewis, ARKive Researcher

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Disneynature’s latest film Chimpanzee,  which was exclusively previewed on the opening night of Wildscreen Festival 2012, is coming to cinemas across the UK on May 3^rd.  Chimpanzee follows the remarkable story of Oscar, a baby chimp whose life takes a surprising turn after he is left all alone following a confrontation with a rival band of chimps. Here at the ARKive office to celebrate the release of this film we thought we would take a closer look at chimpanzees, our closest living relative.

A young chimpanzee

Along with the pygmy chimp and bonobo, the chimpanzee is the closest living relative to humans, and is estimated to share 98 percent of our genes. Chimpanzees are very social animals living in stable communities which range in size from 15 to 150 members. Male chimpanzees stay in the same community for their entire lives where a strict linear hierarchy is employed. 

Group of sleeping chimpanzees

Chimpanzees feed mainly on fruit, but when this is scarce they supplement their diet with leaves, seeds and insects. Another favourite food of chimpanzees is meat, with groups cooperating together to hunt and kill monkeys. Chimpanzees are highly intelligent animals and are one of few species known to use tools. They use sticks to remove ants or termites from their nests and stones to crack open nuts. Chimpanzees are also known to use leaves as sponges to absorb drinking water.

Chimpanzee using a rock to crack a palm nut

Female chimpanzees normally give birth to one infant which develops slowly. Young chimpanzees ride on their mothers back, gripping on to her fur, until the age of two and are not weaned until around four years old, although they retain strong ties with their mother after this. 

Female chimpanzee with her baby

Chimpanzees will often spend hours grooming each other, removing dirt, insects and seeds from each others fur. This not only keeps individuals dirt free and healthy, but it also helps to strengthen and maintain bonds between group members.

Chimpanzees grooming each other

To find out more visit ARKive’s chimpanzee species profile. 

Jemma Pealing
Media Researcher

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