August and September mark the arrival of migratory birds who make the flight each year to the shores of Queensland from their northern hemisphere breeding grounds. With October well underway, our seasonal visitors are resting and nourishing themselves before the next breeding season calls them back across the globe.
Saturday 12 October is World Migratory Bird Day, a biannual event aiming to drive conservation efforts to ensure the long-term survival of migratory species and their habitats. The theme of this year’s campaign, Protect insects, protect birds, urges action to prevent the loss and disturbance of the insect populations relied on by migratory birds as a vital food source for their amazing journeys.
Griffith’s research helps support Australia’s commitment to protect migratory shorebirds and their habitats. For example, the Links between Gulf rivers and food for migratory shorebirds project, led by Professor Michele Burford in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Science, Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and Queensland Wader Study Group, revealed important relationships between river systems in the Gulf of Carpentaria and food for migratory shorebirds.
Our institutional repository, Griffith Research Online (GRO), provides free access to the project’s final report, The vulnerability of food supplies for migratory shorebirds to altered flow in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. Check out a snapshot of our other research on migratory birds below and visit GRO to find more.
- Protecting coastal wetland habitat for migratory shorebirds: Is Australian law doing enough?
- Global political responsibility for the conservation of albatrosses and large petrels
- Migration strategy and pathogen risk: Non-breeding distribution drives malaria prevalence in migratory waders.
Griffith is proud to produce world-class research contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Find out more about the Sustainable Development Goals.
