September 18, 2009
Each spring and fall, Neotropical migratory songbirds such as oven birds and yellow warblers travel thousands of miles between their South American wintering grounds and their North American breeding grounds. Because the primary migratory flight path they use, the Atlantic Flyway, overlaps with one of the most urbanized regions of North America, urban parks found within cities along the Eastern U.S. coastline can be important habitat for resting and refueling.
Philadelphia is a particularly important city because it is positioned along the Atlantic Flyway at the intersection of numerous migration routes. To help ensure that migrants passing through our City can find places to rest and restore depleted energy resources, our Zoo is working in partnership with researchers at Wildlife Conservation Society/Bronx Zoo Department of Ornithology and Audubon Pennsylvania to assess habitat located in the West Park section of Fairmount Park as a migrant stopover site.
Under the direction of a Master Bander, migrating songbirds are captured in “mist nets then carefully examined, measured, weighed and banded with federal serial numbered metal bands, then released to go on their way. Data gathered by this three-year study is helping scientists learn about the nutritional value of the habitat in Fairmount Park.
In addition to regional projects such as this, our Zoo is also involved in a variety of international bird conservation initiatives including the rescue and repatriation of the Micronesian kingfisher to the island of Guam. These and other projects are highlighted in our spectacular, new McNeil Avian Center. The Avian Center is a renovation of the Zoo’s historic 1916 Bird House and a fitting achievement for the year of our 150th anniversary. The new building retains its original façade in a tribute to our Victorian history yet incorporates cutting edge technology in exhibit design and educational vehicles. “Migration Theatre,” an animated film starring a loveable Baltimore oriole named Otis, is an example of this technology at work.
The story of Migration Theatre chronicles the amazing phenomenon of bird migration as we accompany Otis, who has hatched right here in Fairmount Park, on his first migration journey. Conservation messages shared throughout the McNeil Avian Center experience come together in this engaging film to demonstrate the connections between our actions here at home and their impact on wildlife around the world. Nowhere else in the Delaware Valley can you and your family explore the interaction between humans and birds in a manner so personal and yet so far-reaching.
I hope you’ll visit the Avian Center soon and I also invite you to take advantage of the opportunity to visit the Zoo’s migratory bird banding station in Fairmount Park on September 26th or 27th or October 3rd or 4th. Please contact Valerie Peckham, Conservation Program Manager, at 215-243-5347 or peckham.valerie@phillyzoo.org for more information on registering for these programs.