Bird migration is one of nature's most remarkable phenomena, but migratory birds face unprecedented threats that cause mass mortality and population declines globally.
Migratory birds experience enormous challenges that cause both immediate suffering and population-level harm. Birds that strike buildings may die instantly or suffer injured wings, broken beaks, and internal hemorrhage before death. Light-disoriented birds may fly for hours in confused circles until exhaustion causes them to fall. Birds arriving at stopover sites stripped of habitat may starve before reaching breeding grounds. Climate-driven phenological mismatches mean birds arrive when their food sources are not yet available. Each of these scenarios involves individual animals experiencing pain, exhaustion, and death that accumulates across billions of individual welfare incidents annually.