A New Atlas Maps the Invisible Journeys of Migratory Birds Across the Americas Andrea Ferreira | March 26, 2026 | News
2026-04-05 11:41:55At any given moment, billions of birds are on the move across the Americas crossing forests, wetlands, grasslands, and coastlines in journeys that span entire continents. These migrations connect ecosystems thousands of kilometers apart. What happens in one place can shape outcomes in another.
Until now, understanding those connections on scale has been a major challenge.
Launched at the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) COP15 in Brazil, the Americas Flyways Atlas offers a new way forward, transforming decades of data into a tool that helps governments, conservation practitioners, and partners identify where action matters most.
Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with CMS and partners across the hemisphere, the Atlas maps critical breeding, migration, and non-breeding areas for migratory bird species. Drawing on millions of observations contributed through the eBird platform, it identifies “Bird Concentration Areas”—key sites where species gather in large numbers throughout their annual cycles.
At its core, the Atlas makes something abstract—connectivity—visible.
“We talk about connectivity all the time—how migratory species depend on networks of sites across countries,” said Rob Clay, CMS Appointed Scientific Councilor for Birds to CMS. “But while it’seasy to say, it’s much harder to make that concept tangible and actionable. This Atlas helps visualize what connectivity really means.”