By Kim McDarison
The Fort Atkinson City Council has proclaimed May 8 as World Migratory Bird Day.
The citywide proclamation was made during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire, who was attending her first city council meeting in her role as city manager, noted in a memo to council that Fort Atkinson has made similar proclamations, recognizing the second Saturday in May as World Migratory Bird Day, annually since 2016. The recognition comes as part of the city’s “Bird City” designation.
This year, LeMire said, the day will incorporate the theme: “Sing, Fly, Soar — Like a Bird.”
She encouraged citizens to “celebrate the beauty of migratory birds and to support efforts to protect and conserve them and their habitats in our community.”
During the meeting, Council President Mason Becker read the full proclamation aloud.
“Migratory birds are some of the most beautiful and easily observed wildlife that share our communities,” Becker read, adding: “Many citizens recognize and welcome migratory songbirds as symbolic harbingers of spring.”
The proclamation further noted that migrant species play an important economic role in the community by “generating millions in recreational dollars statewide.” The birds also control pests.
Habitat of migrating birds is in decline throughout America, and the birds face a growing number of threats as they travel along migration routes between their summer and winter homes, as well as in destination environments.
“Public awareness and concern are crucial components of migratory bird conservation,” the proclamation noted, adding: “citizens enthusiastic about birds, informed about the threats they face, and empowered to help address those threats can directly contribute to maintaining healthy bird populations.”
Begun in 1993, World Migratory Bird Day, formerly known as International Migratory Bird Day, has been a vehicle used to focus public attention on nearly 350 bird species traveling between seasonal habitats in Fort Atkinson and North America to winter habitats in South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and the southern United states, according to the proclamation.
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