Bird Migration Map

Where 95 famous migratory birds are seen, month by month, on a 3D globe. Tap Pick your bird to follow one bird through the year, press ▶ to play, or drag the month slider: each bird moves along one simplified typical route through the year, with arrows showing the direction of travel. Drag or flick to turn the globe; it never turns by itself.

The routes are worked out from openly licensed GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only): for each month we take the main cluster of records (adjusted for where bird watchers are) and join the 12 monthly centres into a smooth loop. It is a simplification: real birds spread out, and some populations take other routes. Read how the map is made and the data credits.

Barn swallowHirundo rusticaCommon cuckooCuculus canorusWhite storkCiconia ciconiaOspreyPandion haliaetusArctic ternSterna paradisaeaBar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaCommon swiftApus apusBarnacle gooseBranta leucopsisCommon craneGrus grusRed knotCalidris canutusCommon house martinDelichon urbicumSand martinRiparia ripariaWillow warblerPhylloscopus trochilusCommon chiffchaffPhylloscopus collybitaEurasian blackcapSylvia atricapillaGarden warblerSylvia borinCommon whitethroatCurruca communisLesser whitethroatCurruca currucaSedge warblerAcrocephalus schoenobaenusCommon reed warblerAcrocephalus scirpaceusCommon grasshopper warblerLocustella naeviaWood warblerPhylloscopus sibilatrixSpotted flycatcherMuscicapa striataEuropean pied flycatcherFicedula hypoleucaCommon redstartPhoenicurus phoenicurusWhinchatSaxicola rubetraNorthern wheatearOenanthe oenantheWestern yellow wagtailMotacilla flavaTree pipitAnthus trivialisCommon nightingaleLuscinia megarhynchosEuropean turtle doveStreptopelia turturEuropean nightjarCaprimulgus europaeusEurasian hobbyFalco subbuteoLittle ringed ploverCharadrius dubiusCommon ternSterna hirundoSandwich ternThalasseus sandvicensisLittle ternSternula albifronsManx shearwaterPuffinus puffinusAtlantic puffinFratercula arcticaRing ouzelTurdus torquatusRedwingTurdus iliacusFieldfareTurdus pilarisBramblingFringilla montifringillaBohemian waxwingBombycilla garrulusPink-footed gooseAnser brachyrhynchusBrant gooseBranta berniclaWhooper swanCygnus cygnusTundra swanCygnus columbianusEurasian wigeonMareca penelopeNorthern pintailAnas acutaCommon goldeneyeBucephala clangulaCommon loonGavia immerPurple sandpiperCalidris maritimaDunlinCalidris alpinaSnow buntingPlectrophenax nivalisShort-eared owlAsio flammeusJack snipeLymnocryptes minimusEuropean golden ploverPluvialis apricariaEurasian woodcockScolopax rusticolaGreater white-fronted gooseAnser albifronsRuby-throated hummingbirdArchilochus colubrisRufous hummingbirdSelasphorus rufusSandhill craneAntigone canadensisWhooping craneGrus americanaSwainson's hawkButeo swainsoniBroad-winged hawkButeo platypterusBobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorusBlackpoll warblerSetophaga striataCanada gooseBranta canadensisSnow gooseAnser caerulescensAmerican golden ploverPluvialis dominicaBaltimore orioleIcterus galbulaScarlet tanagerPiranga olivaceaPurple martinProgne subisFranklin's gullLeucophaeus pipixcanSwainson's thrushCatharus ustulatusChimney swiftChaetura pelagicaHudsonian godwitLimosa haemasticaAmur falconFalco amurensisBar-headed gooseAnser indicusRed-crowned craneGrus japonensisDemoiselle craneGrus virgoHooded craneGrus monachaWhite-naped craneGrus vipioSpoon-billed sandpiperCalidris pygmaeaBlack-faced spoonbillPlatalea minorBaikal tealSibirionetta formosaOriental storkCiconia boycianaFar Eastern curlewNumenius madagascariensisOriental pratincoleGlareola maldivarumOriental cuckooCuculus optatusShort-tailed shearwaterArdenna tenuirostrisSooty shearwaterArdenna griseaLatham's snipeGallinago hardwickiiRainbow bee-eaterMerops ornatus