Why Is IMBD Celebrated?

Public awareness and concern are

crucial components of migratory bird

conservation. Citizens who are

enthusiastic about birds, informed about

threats, and empowered to become

involved in addressing those threats, can

make a tremendous contribution to

maintaining healthy bird populations.

One of the most successful vehicles for

public education on migratory birds is

International Migratory Bird Day

(IMBD).

Where Is IMBD Celebrated?

Agencies and organizations with direct

contact with visitors take the lead in

hosting IMBD celebrations. Most IMBD

celebrations are held in places set aside for

wildlife, such as parks, refuges, and other

places where wild birds can be seen

firsthand, for example:

• National Wildlife Refuges

• National Forest Ranger Districts

• National Conservation Areas

• National Parks, Seashores, and

Monuments

• Military bases and reservations

• Corps of Engineers lakes and projects

• State parks and wildlife management

areas

• County and city parks and nature centers

• Audubon centers and sanctuaries

• Preserves of The Nature Conservancy

and local land trusts

Celebrating International

Migratory Bird Day

International

Migratory Bird

Day (IMBD),

held annually

on the second

Saturday in

May, is an

invitation to

celebrate and

support

migratory bird

conservation.

IMBD Information

web - http://birds.fws.gov/imbd

phone - 703/358-2318

IMBD Materials

web - http://www.BirdDay.org

phone - 1-866/334-3330

March 2005

IMBD celebrations are also a perfect fit

for indoor classrooms or urban settings.

Teachers, interpreters, tourism boards,

and shopowners celebrate IMBD in

order to share bird and conservation

information with their audiences.

How Many People Celebrate IMBD? The IMBD Events Registry captures and

displays information on public celebrations. Visit http://www.birdday.org and

navigate to Events & Festivals. This registry is voluntary, thus the true number

of public events is unknown. However, based on personal correspondence,

professional judgment and materials sales, public events number at least 500, and

two to three hundred thousand people engage in IMBD activities or are reached

through media.
How is IMBD Celebrated?

Over its ten-plus years, IMBD has

inspired celebrants to develop a wide

variety of activities to raise appreciation

and concern for birds. These activities

are generally created for the general

public, especially families, but also target

local birders and other advocates who can

serve as citizen scientists, and local

decision-makers who can be instrumental

to site protection.

• Bird walks

• Bird Counts

• Talks and presentations

• Workshops on bird ID, photography,

natural history

• Poster, poetry, photo contests

• Live musical and theatrical performances

• Arts and crafts

• Kids games

• Displays and booths

• Tastings of shade-coffee

• Fun runs and fund-raisers

• Cleanups and other habitat projects

• Sales of native plants or shade-coffee

IMBD is also an ideal date for dedicating

a new sanctuary or visitor center,

culminating a habitat restoration

project, or announcing a new program,

because it puts these events into the

context of an international celebration.

Conservation-minded individuals and

organizations also reach out with IMBD

messages to audiences in their homes,

classrooms, and neighborhoods, by:

• Creating radio and TV public service

announcements

• Writing articles for newspapers and

magazines

• Offering displays and exhibits in

shopping malls and libraries

• Presenting talks and slide shows to

municipal and citizen groups

• Underwriting special mailings to

members

• Sharing their interests and knowledge

with Scout groups, students,

congregation members, friends and

family.

IMBD belongs to all who celebrate it,

from the Chamber of Commerce

organizing a huge festival to the

individuals that take their grandchildren

out birding.

Party Supplies

IIMBD comes with a suite of products

developed for its celebration. The

Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

produced the first IMBD materials in

1993; IMBD materials and coordination

are now the responsibility of the

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The program has progressed to a point

where an expanding catalog of products

is offered each year. From the catalog,

celebrants can obtain promotional and

educational products which include

posters and t-shirts (portraying artwork

from a well-known wildlife artist),

conservation-related activity guides and

booklets, music, banners, and more.

Downloadable materials, such as a press

kit and additional teaching activities, are

also available.

Each year, the IMBD program focuses

on a particular conservation theme, and

associated materials are designed not

only to raise awareness about

conservation issues, but to empower

people to contribute to their resolutions.

The materials and messages created for

IMBD are useful year-round. In fact,

IMBD posters are distributed at bird

walks and talks year-round. IMBDrelated educational materials, including

the new Junior Birder packets have been

integrated by scouting programs. Wild

bird shops and garden centers rely on

IMBD items to host special events or

displays. Prompting annual festivals

and activities will always be the core

purpose of IMBD, but encouraging yearround awareness and education is the

sought-after outcome.

The IMBD 2005 annual theme is Collisions: Clear the Way for Birds.

IMBD materials and celebrants will focus on the human-created, often

fatal obstacles birds may encounter in flight -- including communication

towers, vehicles, power lines, glass windows, and wind turbines -- and

explore the many ways that agencies, industries, and citizens may

minimize the impacts these obstacles have on bird populations.