Protected areas and global conservation of migratory birds

F rom the writings of Aristotle (1) to the musings of Gilbert White in Georgian England (2), migratory birds have fascinated and inspired people for generations. Migrants undertake remarkable journeys, from endurance flights exceeding 10,000 km by bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) (3) to the annual relay of arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea), which fly the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back three times during their lives (4). Migratory species make major contributions to resource fluxes, biomass transfer, nutrient transport, predator-prey interactions, and food-web structure within and among ecosystems (5) and play an important role in human culture (6). Yet more than half of migratory birds across all major flyways have declined over the past 30 years (7)