Born to Travel: BirdLife’s Flyways Campaign
Every autumn, billions of birds set off on journeys of thousands of kilometres along great invisible highways in the sky — the flyways. BirdLife International's Flyways programme works to keep those highways open, safe and intact from breeding ground to wintering ground.
What is a flyway?
A flyway is the entire route used by migratory birds, linking breeding areas, stopover sites and wintering grounds, often across dozens of countries. A bird is only as safe as the most dangerous point on its route — one unprotected bottleneck can undo conservation everywhere else.
Born to travel: the campaign
The Flyways campaign — known in Italy as "Born to Travel" — follows individual satellite-tagged birds on their journeys and tells their stories to the public. Each tagged raptor or stork becomes an ambassador, showing in real time where migrants rest, feed and die.
Funds raised through the campaign support protection of key sites along the East Atlantic and Black Sea–Mediterranean flyways: wetlands, migration bottlenecks and wintering grounds in Africa.
The great flyways of the world
| Flyway | Route | Iconic travellers |
|---|---|---|
| East Atlantic | Arctic – W. Europe – W. Africa | Brent Goose, Red Knot |
| Black Sea–Mediterranean | E. Europe – Mediterranean – Africa | Honey Buzzard, White Stork |
| East Asian–Australasian | Siberia – SE Asia – Australia | Spoon-billed Sandpiper |
| Americas | Alaska – Americas – Patagonia | Red Knot, Swainson's Hawk |
How you can help travellers
- Adopt or sponsor a satellite-tagged bird and follow its journey online.
- Support protection of stopover wetlands along the flyways.
- Keep cats indoors and windows bird-safe during migration peaks.
- Report illegal shooting and trapping along migration bottlenecks.
Why flyways matter in 2026
Climate change is shifting migration timing and routes, making flexible, international protection more important than ever. A flyway approach — country to country, site to site — is the only strategy that matches the scale of the birds' own journeys.
Birds are born to travel. Our task is to make sure that, for every traveller, leaving truly is living.