Without These Five Forests, North America’s Birds Could Vanish

Each year, millions of migratory birds from North America embark on a long journey south to escape the harsh winter. Their survival during this migration depends heavily on five vast tropical forests in Mesoamerica, collectively known as the Five Great Forests. Without Selva Maya, La Moskitia, Indio Maíz–Tortuguero, Talamanca, and Darién, many migratory species would lose critical wintering grounds, food sources, and safe resting points—components essential to completing their annual life cycle.

Our understanding of this deep ecological relationship has expanded significantly thanks to new research that analyzes massive datasets contributed by birdwatchers across the continent.

A study titled “Leveraging Participatory Science Data to Guide Cross-Border Conservation of Migratory Birds: A Case Study from Mesoamerica’s Five Great Forests”, led by Alyssa M. Lello-Smith and colleagues, was published in November 2025 in the journal Biological Conservation. By examining millions of data points from platforms like eBird, the researchers mapped how migratory bird species rely on the Five Great Forests during the non-breeding season. Their findings reveal that certain species spend from 10 percent to nearly 50 percent of their total global populations in one or more of these forests during winter. The study underscores that these forests are not just regional ecosystems—they are continental lifelines.

The research details how Selva Maya, which spans Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, acts as a stronghold for insect-eating birds such as warblers and thrushes, offering rich primary and secondary forests. La Moskitia in Honduras and Nicaragua, including the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, provides humid lowland and swamp forests essential for species adapted to wetter environments. The Indio Maíz–Tortuguero region in Nicaragua and Costa Rica serves as a transition corridor connecting lowland forests to the broader ecological systems of Mesoamerica. The highlands of Talamanca in Costa Rica and Panama support species that require cooler temperatures. Darién, on the border of Panama and Colombia, remains one of the most intact tropical forests in the Western Hemisphere and functions as the final crucial stop before birds continue into South America.

Escalating Deforestation

Yet the study also highlights mounting threats. Over the past two decades, these forests have faced escalating deforestation driven by illegal cattle ranching (often linked to narco-trafficking), agricultural expansion, fires, and road building that fragments forest landscapes.

Lello-Smith and her team argue that the loss of forest cover translates into reduced food availability, diminished shelter, and fragmented habitats that undermine migration success. Fragmentation makes birds more vulnerable to predators, extreme weather, and long-term climate shifts.

“The health of migratory bird populations is shaped not only by breeding habitats in North America but equally by the sustainability of their wintering grounds in Mesoamerica. Fragmented conservation efforts will no longer suffice. We need coordinated protection that crosses borders and ecosystems,” Anna Lello-Smith, lead researcher of the study wrote.

She adds that participatory science data has opened unprecedented opportunities to understand migration patterns in regions previously lacking systematic research.

Need Cross-border Collaboration

The study calls for stronger community-led forest governance, sustained financial support for conservation, and transboundary cooperation. Community forest concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve are highlighted as a success story, where empowering local communities has been shown to reduce deforestation significantly. Additionally, financial support from northern countries—where many of these migratory birds breed—could reduce the economic pressures that drive forest clearing in Mesoamerica.

The Five Great Forests of Mesoamerica form the living backbone of hemispheric bird migration. Protecting them means safeguarding a chain of life that stretches from Canada and the United States to Central and South America. The study reinforces that effective conservation requires cross-border collaboration, inclusive science, and a shared commitment to the future of species that depend on extraordinary journeys across continents. (Wage Erlangga)

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