A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrating bird, the concept was first conceived and applied to waterfowl and shore birds. The flyways can be thought of as wide arterial highways to which the migratory routes of different species are tributaries. An alternative definition is that a flyway is the entire range of a migratory bird, encompassing both its breeding and non-breeding grounds, and the resting and feeding locations it uses while migrating. There are four major north–south flyways in North America and six covering Eurasia, Africa, and Australasia.
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👉 Flyway in the context of Severn-Trent flyway
The Severn-Trent flyway is a migratory route, or flyway, used by birds crossing Great Britain from the Humber estuary to the Severn estuary or vice versa. It follows the Humber and its tributaries the rivers Trent and Tame, then the River Severn. The last of these is not connected to the other three, and so birds must cross the gap over the West Midlands conurbation, around Birmingham.
It is used by birds migrating locally, within Britain, and by those migrating to or from Northern and Southern Europe.
Flyway in the context of Atlantic flyway
The Atlantic Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in North America. The route generally starts in Greenland, then follows the Atlantic coast of Canada, then south down the Atlantic Coast of the United States to the tropical areas of South America and the Caribbean. Every year, migratory birds travel up and down this route following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or traveling to overwintering sites.
This route is used by birds typically because no mountains block most of this path, though birds cross the Appalachian Mountains to join the flyway. Good sources of water, food, and cover exist over its entire length. The warm climates found in the southern portion of the region are home to many northern birds in winter, while in summer the region is home to many bird species from South America.
Flyway in the context of East-Atlantic flyway
The East Atlantic Flyway is a migration route used by about 90 million birds annually, passing from their breeding areas in the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Siberia and northern Europe to wintering areas in western Europe and on to southern Africa. It is one of the eight major flyways used by waders and shorebirds. The migrants follow a great circle route, which is shorter although more challenging. When avoiding the barriers created by the Sahara Desert and Atlas Mountains, European honey buzzards were found to overcompensate for the winds they expected to encounter, and take a longer route than was necessary.
Wetlands International has identified key sites on the flyway in the project Wings Over Wetlands. Important sites on the flyway include: