Birds of Two Worlds
Among the colorful Midwestern songbirds that we enjoy each summer are "Neotropical migrants," or birds that make a trip during our winter season to the tropical habitats found from southern Mexico to Argentina.
Of North America's songbirds, about 255 species are Neotropical migrants. They nest in the U.S. and Canada but spend most of the year in the Neotropics--the Caribbean Islands, Mexican lowlands and Central and South America. In the Midwest alone, 110 of these songbird species migrate each spring from the tropics. Here, they find plentiful food to raise their young.
With fall comes a trip back to the tropics where they can find insects, nectar and fruit, plus a milder climate. Most Neotropical migrants depend on insects for food, so migration is essential to surviving our winter season. Some travel many days and weeks, and thousands of miles mostly at night, to reach their winter destinations in the tropics.
The primary wintering region for midwestern tanagers, vireos, warblers and other Neotropical songbirds stretches from southern Mexico to Colombia and northern Venezuela. Because long distance migration is risky, as many as half of the young don't survive their first migration.
Midwestern and tropical landscapes have both drastically changed over the years, leaving less habitat for migrant songbirds. When a forest, wetland or grassland is lost or fragmented, birds return to find part of their habitat missing. They must locate another suitable area or perish.
The land area of Central America is much smaller than the combined area of the U.S. and Canada. So, each acre in Central America must hold six or seven times as many birds as an acre of their breeding grounds. If an acre of the migratory songbirds' winter habitat is lost, many more birds are affected than if an acre on the breeding grounds is lost.
Actions are now being taken by state, federal and international conservation agencies and organizations to preserve our Neotropical migrants. By better understanding the needs of migrating birds and with attention to their survival, we'll continue to enjoy our tropical birds as they search for summer.
