Reconnecting the skies: Linking flyways for migratory seabirds across continents

A BirdLife International-led team analyzed tracking data from 48 migratory pelagic seabird species to identify six marine flyways crossing the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Southern oceans and touching waters of 56 countries, published last year in Global Ecology and Biogeography. An updated 2026 analysis found at least 151 seabird species use these routes, with nearly 42% of them threatened with extinction.

In March, the U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species formally recognized marine flyways, decades after similar terrestrial flyways for shorebirds and raptors spurred international cooperation and billions in conservation funding. Researchers say the recognition could finally bring governments together to protect species like Arctic terns, which fly more than 80,000 kilometers annually, and grey-headed albatross, which circle Antarctica in as little as 46 days.

The research relied on advances in lightweight tracking tags and a database, started in 2004, that now includes at least 169 seabird species. More than 30% of all seabird species are globally threatened, and researchers argue that mapping their routes is a prerequisite for any coordinated protection across the many national jurisdictions and high seas they cross.

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