When it comes down to it, Audubon is for the birds! Birds were the favorite subject of painter, naturalist and Audubon Society namesake John James Audubon… and we haven’t strayed far from his focus in the 150 years since he introduced the wider world to Florida’s birds.
Why birds as our focus for conservation? Because of the number of habitats they span and their requirements for habitat health, protecting birds helps us protect all types of wildlife, as well as water and air quality which immediately benefit human quality of life.
Beyond their conservation value however, there’s just something about birds. Is it their ability to migrate across hemispheres by the light of the stars? Their colorful plumage, lyrical songs, or simply the magic of flight? At heart, all of us here at Audubon are held in thrall by the mysteries of these little feathered wonders.
We invite you to explore our extensive bird resources… and make our addiction your own!
In the United States, the Central Flyway merges toward the east with the Mississippi Flyway and bounded in that direction by the Missouri River. In the south on this side, it runs through western Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, and then follows the Gulf coast of Mexico southward. On the northwest Arctic coast, where this great flyway has its beginning, the same territory involved that also sends hosts of migrants down the Mississippi Flyway, but farther south, in Canada, the western boundary follows closely the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. In western Montana, however, the continental divide is crossed and the line passes through the Great Salt Lake Valley and then somewhat east of south across the tableland of Mexico. It may be called "the flyway of the Great Plains" as it encompasses all of that vast region lying between the valley of the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, the principal wheat-growing region of both Canada and the United States.
On its western boundary is an important breeding area for waterfowl at the northern end of Great Salt Lake, Utah. The Central Flyway is relatively simple, as the majority of the birds that use it make direct north and south journeys from breeding grounds in the North to winter quarters in the South.