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From the very beginning World Migratory Bird Day has been a tremendous success worldwide. Since 2006, the total number of registered WMBD events has enormously increased along with the number of countries in which WMBD celebrations have taken place. Over 1200 registered events have celebrated WMBD in 131 different countries and territories around the world. Every single event was unique in its own way and as diverse and creative as the people and organisations involved.
WMBD activities take place in many different places, both indoors and outdoors. Schools, parks, town halls, education centres and nature reserves are all places where events have been hosted in the past. These can vary from birdwatching tours and educational workshops to dramas, festivals, exhibitions, painting competitions and other awareness-raising activities.
Events organised to mark World Migratory Bird Day usually are held on the second weekend of May. United by a common theme and campaign, WMBD events have taken place in all corners of the world and have involved and inspired thousands of people of all ages.
Get inspired by past WMBD events: World Migratory Bird Day 2013 HighlightsTo help you get some ideas for your own upcoming WMBD 2014 events, we would like to share just a few of the many exceptional highlights of the 2013 World Migratory Bird Day Campaign including participating events, statements from partners, WMBD trailers and videos as well as the number of countries and languages the campaign has spread to this year.
World Migratory Bird Day Celebrated in 86 Countries!
 Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kosovo (UN Resolution 1244), Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Thailand (Kingdom of), Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Yemen. [Visit the Full WMBD Global Event Map]
World Migratory Bird Day - A Truly Global Campaign! This is just a small sample of the 345 World Migratory Bird Day 2013 Events in 86 countries. For a complete list of WMBD events See the WMBD Event Map and Registered Event page
Kenya
On 11 May 2013, a regional World Migratory Bird Day event was held in Kenya, the country where WMBD was first launched in 2006. The event took place at Lake Elementaita, which is a very important site for migratory birds. Activities included exhibitions, speeches by honored guests and various forms of entertainment, such as an acrobatic show. The event was also the occasion to launch Lake Elementaita as World Heritage Site and Wildlife Sanctuary. The event was hosted by the government of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), in collaboration with the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). The event was made possible in part through funding which AEWA received from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). The renowned writer, conservationist, CMS Abassador and Honorary Warden of KWS Ms. Kuki Gallmann attended the event as well. Lake Elemetaita, part of the Kenya Lakes Systems (Elementaita, Nakuru, Bogoria) is a shallow alkaline lake lying on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at 1,776 m above sea level. The Kenya Lakes System property sustains 75% of the globally significant threatened population of the Near-threatened Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) and serves as stop-over, wintering and summering site for over 100 migratory bird species that use the Great Rift Valley flyway. The migratory birds originate from Europe and northern Asia as well as other parts of Africa. Lake Elementaita was designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in 1999 and as a Ramsar site in 2005. In 2011 it was inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Kenya Lakes System in the Great Rift Valley as a World Heritage Site. Read more about the event at:
Germany
For the first time, a charity concert was held to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day in Bonn, Germany. On Saturday, 11 May the opera choir Corale Lirica San Rocco from Bologna, Italy, sang a selection of works by Verdi in the Namen-Jesu-Church. Donations made at the concert were collected to support the conservation of the Grey Crowned Crane, an endangered species. The Grey Crowned Crane is an iconic African bird known for its beauty and grace. It is a highly sought-after bird by zoos and private collectors, causing a serious threat to the wild population as cranes are being taken in large numbers to be traded across the world. [ Read More] [Photos of the Concert] [Video of the Concert]
Canada
During the week of 6-12 May, the City of Vancouver, along with the Stanley Park Ecology Society, Bird Studies Canada, Nature Vancouver, Tourism Vancouver and other partners, recognized World Migratory Bird Day in a series of events held across the city. The City of Vancouver Park Board proclaimed World Migratory Bird Day, in a declaration signed by Mayor Gregor Robertson. The declaration recognized the better management of birds and their habitats through initiatives such as Vancouver's Greenest City 2020 Action Plan would benefit residents and over 407 bird species.
[See Photos of Events in Vancouver] [WMBD Declaration by Mayor Robertson] Canadian Media Coverage on World Migratory Bird Day [Television Interview from MétéoMédia - La Journée mondiale des oiseaux migrateurs 2013]
MongoliaThe Mongolian Ornithological Society and National University of Mongolia are proud to present two events for this year's World Migratory Bird Day celebration. Both events took place in Ulaanbaatar, where people had the chance to attend presentations or to take part in an exciting bird photograph competition. Migratory birds are an important part of the biodiversity of Mongolia. Of the country's 476 bird species, 391 of them are migratory.
ColombiaOn May 11, the National University of Colombia will be hosting a World Migratory Bird event on campus, as well as at the Natural History Museum. The event is targeting children, youths and adults who are interesting in learning about the conservation of migratory birds. Activities include birdwatching, games for children and lectures about migration cycles and their importance for the survival of migratory birds. A visit to the Natural History Museum, where participants are introduced to an exhibition of Colombian mammals, insects, reptiles, fish and migratory birds is also on the programme. The creation of a giant map displaying birds in America will finish off the day.
United Arab Emirates Conservation Seminars and Education Activitiestook place to mark World Migratory Bird Day in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the Dubai, government officials, academic establishments and private sectors were invited to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day in form of a seminar. This event provided information about migratory birds and was organized by the Dubai Municipality. In Abu Dhabi, the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC), in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), invited children from local schools to visit the Houbara conservation centre located in Sweihan - Abu Dhabi. As part of the visit programme they assisted in releasing captive-bred Houbaras into the wild and were shown a video about the migration of the Houbara by ecologists. [Photos of the Abu Dhabi Event]
[Arabic and English Videos of the Abu Dhabi Event] An online facebook competition organized by the Students for the Earth also took place in which people were asked to write about migratory bird conservation challenges and to suggest how to improve the conservation of one species in their region. [Visit Contest Page]
Republic of KoreaThe beautiful, but Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper is a shorebird that depends on tidal-flats in East Asia during its migration. During this year’s World Migratory Bird Day celebration, the organization ‘Birds Korea’ is raising money for the production of a mini-documentary on Spoon-billed Sandpiper conservation. This is a joint project supported by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, New York. As many of Korea’s long-distance migratory birds spend the summer in North America, the organization is also interested in intensifying their American conservation network to help protecting migratory birds. Read more about the event in the Republic of Korea here!
See All the World Migratory Bird Day Event Photos on the WMBD Flickr Photostream!  
Visit the WMBD Flickr Photostream and See Photos From Around the World!
Share Your WMBD Event photos and Organization on the WMBD Flickr Photostream as Well!
Learn How to Easily Add Your Event Photos Here
Other great past WMBD celebrations
Armenia
 For WMBD 2009 the Armenian Society for the Protection of Birds organised a presentation and a birdwatching trip for school children as well as a “bird migration role play”, which helped to understand the barriers that birds have to face on their journeys. The National Museum of Nature in Yerevan launched WMBD 2009 with the WMBD trailer, a presentation of the “Barriers on migration” and a “Yes or No - quiz show”. This presentation was broadcast on the two leading national TV channels.
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Egypt
 The Site Support Group for Lake Qarun Protected Area (Egypt) showed films about migratory birds and the threats they are facing to school children. Afterwards the children were invited to take part in a drawing competition and several prizes were given for the best drawings. The event's highlight was a trip along Lake Qarun, where the children were introduced to birdwatching.
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Tunisia
 As in former years, WMBD activities were organised by the Association "Les Amis des Oiseaux" (AAO), the BirdLife Partner in Tunisia, from April to May 2010. The celebrations included a National Bird Migration Camp at the Important Bird Area (IBA) Jebel El Haouaria (also known as Jebel Sidi Abiod), drawing competitions for children, lectures, field trips to the Jebel Touati Nature Reserve in the Governorate of Kairouan (Central Tunisia) and many other awareness-raising activities.
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Rwanda
 On 9 May 2010, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in collaboration with the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) organised a bird watching programme. As part of the event, KRC and TBA-Rwanda joined the Environment Club of Musanze High School, where more than 40 birders and enthusiasts gathered. The importance of birds in general and of migratory birds in particular was highlighted and what can be done for the protection of their habitats and the threats they are facing. Participants were then invited to take part in a two-hour bird-watching excursion during which 35 different species of birds were recorded – mainly flycatchers and sunbirds.
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Pakistan
 The topography and climate of Pakistan's province Baluchistan has a great attraction to migratory birds coming from the freezing Central Asian Republic and Siberia. Within this area the Nag Rakshan Valley provides the favorite food for the Houbara Bustard, which is one of the birds that migrate to Pakistan. Due to lack of other energy resources the plants are also used as firewood by local communities, which brought the Houbara Bustard close to extinction. On 8 May 2010 the Houbara Protection Organization (HPO) organised a walk to raise awareness among the communities of Nag Rakshan Valley and to force the protection of this rare bird.
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Puerto Rico
Since 2007, birdwatching and educational activities in Puerto Rico have been organized to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day. Visits to the Rio Abajo Forest, public and private school events and participation in the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival have all helped to raise awareness about the threats migratory birds face. Organizers hoped to promote awareness about the subtropical humid forests and habitats for birds such as the Puerto Rican Parrot and a subspecies of the Broad-winged Hawk.
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Argentina
 Every year since the first World Migratory Bird Day in 2006, activities such as media events, bird watching and educational classes have taken place across Argentina. For example, in 2009 bird watching and awareness-raising activities for schools were held through the Birds of Mendoza Program and the Argentine Institute for Arid Zone Research of Cricyt. South America is the destination for many migratory birds that breed in the Arctic and across North America. Argentina is also home to many endangered migratory birds such as the Peregrine Falcon.
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To become a part of this year's campaign, register your own activity for WMBD 2013 on this website! Celebrate migratory birds and raise awareness about this year's theme 'Destination Flyways: migratory birds and tourism'.
For more ideas for your own WMBD 2014 activity browse through the other globally registered WMBD events which took place in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006!
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How can you participate?
