The mission of the Migratory Bird Initiative is to secure the future of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere by reducing direct threats and protecting critical places across the Americas in coordination with science, conservation, and policy partners. The Initiative brings together the latest spatial information on species distributions and movements across their annual cycles to identify priority areas for 458 species of migratory birds that regularly occur in the United States and Canada. The Bird Migration Explorer guides viewers to the heroic annual journeys made by over 450 bird species and the challenges they face. Chad Witko, National Audubon’s Avian Biology Senior Coordinator, will tell us more.

Chad Witko is the Senior Coordinator of Avian Biology for the National Audubon Society’s Migratory Bird Initiative. Before working at Audubon to help secure the future of migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere, Chad worked on various avian research, conservation, and education projects across the United States since working for Project Puffin in 2004. A lifelong birder with strong bird identification and distribution knowledge, Chad has served as an eBird reviewer and seasonal editor for New Hampshire Bird Records. As an ornithologist, he is most interested in migration, patterns of vagrancy, and seabirds. As a birder, Chad believes in community engagement and is the founder of the Antioch Bird Club. He currently lives in southeastern Vermont with his partner and daughter.