Coastal wetlands are an important factor to insure the success of bird migration.
Ponds, lakes and marshes provide food and shelter for traveling birds . Without the wetlands birds would not have the energy to make the trek from areas as far south as Panama in the case of the Belted Kingfisher. At the time of the European settlement of the United States there were 215 million acres of wetlands. Today there are less than 100 million. Besides providing habitats for waterfowl, wetlands help relieve flooding, filter pollutants and are an integral part of the biosphere.