Bird City Wisconsin is a huge fan of World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD). So big, in fact, that the only required actions on Bird City's application are that every community hold an annual WMBD event and pass an official resolution recognizing WMBD and the importance of birds. (You can download sample resolutions on our site: Word/pdf.)
Each year's WMBD theme is different. In 2018 it was "Year of the Bird." The artwork also changes annually. The 2018 poster was created by two Colombian artists, Paula Andrea Romero and Emmanuel Laverde, founders of the Colombian organization Arte y Conservación, which supports environmental education through art.
According to WMBD's site:
In 1993, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center created International Migratory Bird Day. This educational campaign focused on the Western Hemisphere and celebrates its 25th year in 2018. Since 2007, IMBD has been coordinated by Environment for the Americas (EFTA), a non-profit organization that strives to connect people to bird conservation.
In 2018, EFTA joins the Convention on Migratory Species and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds to create a single, global bird-conservation education campaign, World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD). Continuing our tradition with IMBD, WMBC celebrates and brings attention to one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas – bird migration.
EFTA will continue to coordinate events, programs, and activities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean at protected areas, refuges, parks, museums, schools, zoos, and more. As many as 700 events and programs are hosted annually to introduce the public to migratory birds and ways to conserve them.
Photos from WMBD events in Bird City Wisconsin communities Janesville (left) and Evansville (right).
Read more:
Order Bird Friendly®-certified Birds & Beans coffee from Bird City Wisconsin.
Eight citizen science projects recommended by Bird City Wisconsin.
Read about cats, collisions, and other threats to birds.