“Migrating Across Borders”

Your Mission

Protect the habitats of the golden-winged warbler by serving at a mock International Migratory Bird Summit as a representative of a country through which the warbler migrates.

Focusing on Migration

Many species of animals are migratory, traveling seasonally to places where they can breed or feed. These animals require not only habitats in different places but also safe passageways in between. When species migrate across international boundaries, protecting them requires the collaboration of different governments. (Protecting areas of biodiversity for threatened or endangered species is especially important.) To learn more about migration and the golden-winged warbler, visit the National Audubon Society (http://www.audubon.org/bird/watch/gww/gww.html).

Mapping a Strategy

The golden-winged warbler crosses ten international borders as it migrates between its breeding range and its winter range. (In the United States, the warbler lives in or migrates through 18 states.) Use the “Migrating Across Borders” map your teacher gives you to help devise a strategy for protecting the warbler.

• Plot the warbler’s fall migration route from its breeding grounds to its winter home.
  
  
• Label the states and countries within the ranges and along the route. (Need help with names? Visit our Xpeditions Atlas at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions.)
  
  
• Research a country through which the warbler migrates. Consider basic questions such as whether your country is primarily agricultural or industrial. For general information about your country, visit the Flags and Facts section of the nationalgeographic.com Map Machine (http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/
  mapmachine/facts_fs.html). Check the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (http://www.wcmc.org.uk/data/database/un_combo.html) for statistics about land set aside for wildlife and to learn about conservation efforts.
  
  

Use the information you have gathered to develop a strategy to protect the golden-winged warbler in “your” nation.

Reaching the Summit

At the “International Migratory Bird Summit,” you will be working with representatives from other countries to ensure the warbler's safety. Before the start of the negotiations, consider these questions:

• What are your country’s goals?
  
  
• Is focusing on wildlife conservation in its best interests?
  
  
• What other pressing needs does it have?
  
  
• Can it afford to spend money on wildlife conservation?
  
  
• Does it have nonmigratory animals that are in peril?
  
  
• How can such enterprises as ecotourism encourage people in your country to help?
  
  
• What role can education play?
  
  
• What factors might motivate the other countries at the summit, and how can you package what you want so it is most satisfactory to them—and to the warbler?
  
  

Take Action!

• Visit the World Wildlife Fund Action Center (http://www.worldwildlife.org/actions/actioncenter.cfm) for the latest news on wildlife issues and to learn what you can do to support wildlife.
  
  
• Learn about birds at risk and what you can do to help by checking out the Watchlist at the National Audubon Society site (http://www.audubon.org/bird/watch).
  
  
• Find out if any species migrate through your area and what protective measures, if any, have been taken to ensure their safety. (Remember: Think globally, act locally.)
  

Activity adapted from the 1996 Geography Awareness Week teacher’s handbook. © 1996 National Geographic Society.

“Migrating Across Borders” map by Martin Walz, from the 1996 Geography Awareness Week teacher’s handbook. © 1996 National Geographic Society.

Golden-winged warbler art by Robert Cremins, from the 1996 Geography Awareness Week teacher’s handbook.

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