Twelve months of migration on one map

Follow the birds.

Plan birding trips around the world's great flyways: where to go, when to go, and what you will see when you get there.

World map of major bird flyways Ten migration routes between breeding and wintering grounds, with major bottleneck sites. Birds move along each route month by month. Copper River Delta (May) San Francisco Bay (Sep–Apr) Platte River (Mar) Veracruz River of Raptors (Sep–Oct) Panama City (Oct–Nov) Delaware Bay and Cape May (May, Sep–Oct) Wadden Sea (Aug–Oct, Mar–May) Banc d'Arguin (Oct–Mar) Strait of Gibraltar (Aug–Oct) Bosphorus (Aug–Oct) Batumi (Aug–Oct) Eilat (Mar–May) Doyang, Nagaland (Oct–Nov) Khichan (Sep–Mar) Chokpak Pass (Sep–Oct) Rudong, Yellow Sea (Apr–May, Sep–Oct) Roebuck Bay (Sep–Apr) Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta (May–Aug) Firth of Thames (Oct–Mar)
Read the flyways as a list
Pacific Americas
Shorebirds and hummingbirds follow the Pacific coast from Alaska to Peru and Chile. Signature birds: Western Sandpiper, Rufous Hummingbird. Peak: Apr–May and Aug–Sep.
Central Americas
The Great Plains funnel cranes to the Platte River and millions of hawks through Veracruz and Panama. Signature birds: Swainson's Hawk, Sandhill Crane. Peak: Mar (cranes), Sep–Oct (raptors).
Atlantic Americas
Red Knots fly from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic, refuelling on horseshoe-crab eggs in Delaware Bay. Signature birds: Red Knot, Blackpoll Warbler. Peak: May and Sep–Oct.
East Atlantic
Arctic breeders stage in the Wadden Sea and winter on the coasts of West Africa. Signature birds: Red Knot, Pink-footed Goose, Bar-tailed Godwit. Peak: Apr–May and Aug–Oct.
Black Sea / Mediterranean
Soaring birds avoid the open sea, crossing at the Bosphorus and Gibraltar and following the Rift Valley south. Signature birds: White Stork, European Honey-buzzard. Peak: Mar–May and Aug–Oct.
East Asia / East Africa
Amur Falcons roost in their hundreds of thousands in Nagaland, then cross the Arabian Sea to Africa. Signature birds: Amur Falcon. Peak: Oct–Nov.
Central Asian
Cranes and geese cross the Himalaya and Hindu Kush to winter in India. Signature birds: Demoiselle Crane, Bar-headed Goose. Peak: Sep–Oct and Mar.
East Asian–Australasian
Siberian shorebirds depend on the tidal flats of the Yellow Sea on the way to Australia. Signature birds: Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Great Knot, Far Eastern Curlew. Peak: Mar–May and Aug–Oct.
West Pacific
Bar-tailed Godwits fly non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, and return north via the Yellow Sea. Signature birds: Bar-tailed Godwit. Peak: Sep–Oct.
Marine: Atlantic to Southern Ocean
Arctic Terns travel from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year: the longest migration of any animal. Signature birds: Arctic Tern, Wandering Albatross. Peak: Year-round at sea.

Find a birding trip

01Plan

Where to go in September

All destinations this month

02Explore

Seven continents, one field notebook

03Found nowhere else

Endemic birds: one country, one chance

Explore endemics by country

Thousands of species live in a single country or on a single island. They are the birds that make a trip unforgettable.

04Bird of the month

Black Shama

Copsychus cebuensis

The Black shama (Copsychus cebuensis) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the island of Cebu, Philippines where it is known locally as "Siloy". Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forest, tropical moist…

LCLeast Concern Photo: Forest Jarvis · CC BY 4.0

05Learn

Bird biology, taught like a field course

Fourteen modules from feathers and flight to migration and research methods, with quizzes and a certificate path for guides and researchers.

  1. 01Evolution and classification
  2. 02Anatomy and physiology
  3. 03Feathers, plumage and moult
  4. 04Flight
  5. 05Feeding ecology
  6. 06Voice
See all 14 modules

06Read

The Field Guide Compendium

Browse all field guides

Every regional field guide worth packing, continent by continent, with coverage, level and our verdict.

07Equip

Gear that earns its place in the bag

All gear guides

08Journal

Stories from the field

Read the journal