The Pacific Flyway
Multitudes of Snow Geese spend their winters in the Sacramento Area, migrating along the Pacific Flyway from their Artic breeding grounds. Image by Daniel Lee Brown.
Each year in late summer and fall billions of migrating birds travel south along the Pacific Flyway. They travel 1,000s of miles from breeding grounds to wintering grounds to find food, mates, and more hospitable conditions. They cover seemingly impossible distances stopping to rest in wetlands, forests, and even neighborhoods (maybe yours) all along their route.
The Pacific Flyway is one of four regional flyways in the United States. It extends from Alaska down to South America all along the Pacific coast. It is 10,000 nautical miles long and reaches inland to the Rocky Mountains. Some birds travel nearly the entire distance. The Olive-sided Flycatcher travels up to 7,000 miles between its breeding grounds in Northern British Columbia to its southern wintering grounds in South America. Others such as Snow Geese only travel a portion of the flyway. Some of them stopping in the Sacramento Area to spend the winter.
Some Rufous Hummingbirds travel nearly 3,000 miles along the Pacific Flyway, traveling between British Columbia and Mexico. Image by Ray Rozema.
Not all migrating birds use a flyway or the same flyway in spring and fall. Some songbirds travel one route going south and another when heading north. Waterfowl (ducks, geese, and swans), however, tend to use the same flyway year after year. They use these routes because of the wetland habitats located along the flyway. Here they stop, rest, and find partners for the next breeding season.
Sadly, these wetland areas are in jeopardy. In California, 90% of historic natural wetlands are gone due to human development or intervention. Instead, waterfowl now largely rely on flooded rice fields, National Wildlife Refuges, State Wildlife Areas, and privately managed lands.
You Can Help
Support those organizations that support this wetland habitat: the National Audubon Society, the Pacific Flyway Council, and the Central Valley Joint Venture are just a few. Read more about the work of these organizations here.
Buy a Duck Stamp. 98% of the purchase price of each stamp goes directly to help acquire and protect wetland habitat.
Share your love of these birds with others. There are many wonderful places in the the Sacramento Area to visit during the winter. Cosumnes River Preserve, Yolo Bypass Area, and Gray Lodge Wildlife Area are just a few of the wonderful places to see many of the migrating waterfowl.