About

Crossing our skies barely noticed, over 3 billion* birds of around 215 species migrate every spring and every autumn between their breeding grounds in Europe and Asia and the wintering areas south of the Sahara. Many of these are relatively widespread common species which are declining at an alarming rate.

Tales from the flyway is a space to learn about the main actors in this story: the birds making the epic journeys, the landscapes they inhabit and move through, and the people who shape those landscapes.

The human dimension of the flyway is as important as the biological. You will be meeting anthropologists, historians, human geographers, economists, climate scientists, ecologists, ornithologists. Each will provide a snapshot or a reflection about the ecology of migration, about the dynamic and complex nature of landscapes where birds breed, pass through and winter, and about how the ways in which we conceive of ourselves and our relation to the world are shaping our experience of the flyway and what we deem to be appropriate responses to the decline of migrant birds.

Tales from the flyway is about what we know about migrant birds and how we study them. Importantly, it is also about what we don’t know and what we cannot know about migrant birds; it is about ignorance and uncertainty.

There is much we don’t know about migrant birds. The number of species involved, each one with its specific habitat preferences and life cycle, the vast geographical areas these species occupy, the difficulties of conducting research in many of these places, the political boundaries crossed, and fast-changing climate, economic and political contexts give an idea of the scale of the challenge of diagnosing the causes of the decline of each species.

New knowledge about common migrant birds is all the more valuable because of these circumstances. But what does it mean to try to reverse the decline of common migrant birds and maintain their abundance and ultimately the health of the natural world under conditions of incomplete knowledge?

Read more about the approach and contents

My name is Javier Caletrío and I am a researcher in environmental change and sustainability transitions.

It is through a curiosity about the messy realities of life on the ground that I have enjoyed learning about bird migration and environmental change. I have created this website to continue learning from the many individuals and communities whose work and experiences can heighten our awareness of the complexity of the social and ecological processes underpinning the decline of migrant birds. I hope this provides a meaningful perspective at a time when, despite recurrent failures, grand schemes to ‘save nature’ and improve the human condition (with their neglect of local realities) continue to be advocated.

Tales from the flyway focuses mainly on two groups of birds known as passerines and near-passerines. Passerines include small birds such as warblers, wagtails and swallows and near-passerines include swifts, cuckoos, doves and bee-eaters. Ninety-five species of passerines and near passerines breeding in Eurasia winter south of the Sahara. Just as important as understanding the decline of common birds, is understanding what keeps abundant species abundant.

* At various dates in the last half century these numbers have been estimated at between 3 and 5 billion.