from The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology

Our fellow avian conservation biologists, including Mary Whitfield of the Southern Sierra Research Station, have partnered with National Geographic on a short film on the Bird Genoscape Project called “Feathers in Flight.”

Film Synopsis: Billions of birds, including the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher which the WFVZ studies too, migrate annually across the Western Hemisphere… but if we don’t know where they go when they leave their breeding grounds, how can we protect them? By extracting DNA from individual feathers (and borrowing cutting-edge technology from the Human Genome Project) researchers are mapping bird migration with greater precision than ever before. The result is the Bird Genoscape Project, and it’s revolutionizing bird conservation by connecting migratory birds – and the people who care about them – across the Americas.

The final YouTube link for the film on National Geographic’s channel is here!