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Context:

• In 2024, World Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated on two days, 11 May and 12 October, aligning with the cyclic nature of bird migration in different hemispheres.

Details:

• The World Migratory Bird Day campaign in 2024 will stress the need for proactive conservation measures.
• The annual campaign will take place under the theme “Protect Insects, Protect Birds”.
• This includes reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and where possible, switching to organic farming. Other measures include maintaining and connecting areas of natural vegetation that provide food and shelter for birds and other species, in agricultural landscapes.
• For the first time ever, the upcoming World Migratory Bird Day campaign in 2024 will focus on the importance of insects for migratory birds, and highlight concerns related to decreasing populations of insects.

Importance of insects:

• Insects are essential sources of energy for many migratory bird species.
• Along their migration routes, birds look out for insects in fields, forests, wetlands, and various habitats during stopovers.
• The timing of bird migration often coincides with peak insect abundance at stopover locations, supplying nourishment for birds to replenish their energy reserves before continuing their journeys.
• The loss and disturbance of insect populations at breeding sites and along avian migration routes threaten bird survival and well-being.

Threats to insects and birds:

• Natural spaces like forests and grasslands that have been transformed or endangered by intensive agriculture and urban development and its effects such as light pollution can result in a decline in insect populations.
• Pesticides and herbicides designed to protect crops harm insects that birds rely on for food.
• A scarcity of energy- and protein-rich insects can hinder bird migration and breeding, leading to weakened immune systems, reduced reproductive success, and increased mortality rates for both adult birds and their offspring.

Significance of birds:

• Birds play crucial roles in pollination and pest control, and a lack of insects disrupts these ecosystem functions. Overpopulation of certain insects, without natural predators from birds, can also cause outbreaks that damage plant health and agriculture.

What is a Flyway?

• The routes that migratory waterbirds traverse on an annual basis are known as 'flyways.' There are nine major flyways around the world.
• The East Asian - Australasian Flyway (EAAF) stretches from the Russian Far East and Alaska, southwards through East Asia and Southeast Asia, to Australia and New Zealand, and encompasses 22 countries.
• The EAAF is home to over 50 million migratory waterbirds from over 250 different populations, including 36 globally threatened species and 19 Near Threatened species. During migration, waterbirds rely on a system of highly productive wetlands to rest and feed, building up sufficient energy to fuel the next phase of their journey. International cooperation across their migratory range is therefore essential to conserve and protect migratory waterbirds and the habitats on which they depend.

For a detailed study on flyways read:

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/central-asian-highway#:~:text=A%20flyway%20is%20the%20whole,and%20the%20connecting%20migration%20routes.

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/central-asian-flyway

Source:

https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/

PRACTICE QUESTION Q) Birds play crucial roles in ecosystem restoration and environmental conservation. In this light discuss the Importance of Migratory Birds in Environmental Conservation.(250 words)