Billions of songbirds migrate twice annually between breeding and wintering grounds, facing an increasing gauntlet of human-created obstacles including buildings, power lines, cats, and illegal trapping.
Migrating songbirds face an extraordinary welfare challenge as they navigate increasingly human-modified landscapes. Building strikes kill birds instantly or cause injuries that lead to slow death from head trauma. Glass reflects sky and vegetation, making it invisible to birds. Light pollution from buildings at night disrupts orientation and attracts birds into urban mortality zones. Illegal limestick trapping causes birds to land on sticky branches from which they cannot escape, resulting in prolonged suffering and death from exhaustion. Illegal mist net trapping for the cage bird trade occurs at massive scale across Asia. Domestic cats kill huge numbers of migrants resting during stopovers. Climate change is shifting migration timing and route conditions, creating mismatches between migration timing and food availability.