Because Audubon’s conservation vision follows birds up and down their migratory pathways, it’s important that we encourage the public to view birds this way as well. For the children who participate in our various programs throughout the Pacific Flyway, we not only seek to instill a love of birds, but also an appreciation for how these birds connect us to a much larger world.

At the Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center in Seattle,Washington, the staff relies on the surrounding Lake Washingtonto help tell the story. The diverse waterfowl that use the lake not only get kids excited about birds, but also lead the way into discussions of migration. For instance, a program called Duck, Duck, Goose not only highlights the different ducks and geese that can be seen from the Center, but also includes maps of the different migrations.

“One of the more common questions we get from kids is ‘Where did all the ducks go?’” says Allison McCarthy, the Center’s program and volunteer coordinator. “We definitely make an effort to talk about flyways because these pathways have a huge effect on the birds you see every year.”

Much further south, at the Audubon Center at Debs Park in Los Angeles, migration is an important theme. Recently, the staff has had great success bringing children and families to see Vaux’s Swifts roosting in a chimney above a heavily Latino commercial district in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.

“North/south migration is a very important concept, particularly in communities inLos Angeleswhere the majority of people have immigrated to the area from points south,” says Center Director Jeff Chapman. “To be able to take a bird like a Vaux’s Swift and relate information about the areas where this bird winters provides connection to the species.”

At the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary near San Francisco, a group of teens enrolled in the Audubon Youth Leaders program are helping to restore a key bit of habitat and learning about migration along the way. The group is growing native plants that will be installed on Aramburu Island, site of a major restoration project across Richardson Bay from the Center. Although it is only 17 acres, the island provides critical habitat for migratory waterbirds in the larger San Francisco Bay.

“Our goal is to remind kids that when you help a bird in your own backyard, you’re strengthening a link in a chain that runs all the way from Alaska to Central America and beyond,” says Center Director Brooke Langston.

The National Audubon Society doesn’t have a nature center in Alaska, so we get the message out to children and families through a variety of volunteer opportunities and events. The recent International Migratory Bird Day offered opportunities for the state program to partner with local chapters for a number of family-friendly events.

In Fairbanks, families could see puppet shows and enjoy a nature walk at the Creamer’s Field Important Bird Area. In Juneau, kids had a chance to see how a bird banding station works. In Kodiak, they got to learn about the birds that visit the National Wildlife Refuge in their backyards. At all of these events, migration was the topic of the day. In Anchorage, kids learned how using binoculars and spotting scopes helps prevent stress for migrating birds.

“Birds that nest in Alaska come from the Pacific Flyway as well as the other three North American flyways, and from seven continents,” says Beth Peluso, Audubon Alaska’s communications manager. “Some of them leave Olympic athletes behind with their long-distance migration. The Arctic Tern flies from Alaska to Antarctica and back every year. That’s definitely worth celebrating.”

While these programs tell the story of the Pacific Flyway to thousands of children each year, many more kids benefit from the incredible work being done by the local chapters from California to Alaska to educate the next generation of bird and nature enthusiasts.

(top two photos show education programs at the  Seward Park Environmental & Audubon Center; the third photo shows kids participating in a bird walk at the Audubon Center at Debs Park)