Steffanie for the Cape Florida Banding Station

For the last four years, I've volunteered my time at a one-of-a-kind migratory bird research and outreach station, the Cape Florida Banding Station. For over 20 years, volunteers from all different backgrounds have operated this station to contribute to our understanding of bird migration in the Atlantic Flyway. In addition to its research value, the station has also helped to inspire a love of ornithological research in countless people over the years. It is a personal bright spot for me and the station that invested time in training me how to band birds, which is why I donate 1 - 2 days a week of my time each migration season to volunteer at the station and write blogs about our work.  

But running a migration station takes effort. If not for the generosity of our volunteers, we would be completely unable to operate, as this allows us to focus on funding only the material costs of banding equipment. The Cape Florida Banding Station is hoping to raise $10,000 during today's Give Miami Day fundraiser. These unrestricted funds will allow us to replace worn equipment, in particular delicate mist nets, and pay for other operational costs to allow us to continue our monitoring, research, and education. 

By making a donation today, you can support the continuation of this critical and historic work. The Cape Florida Banding Station is the southernmost banding station along the Atlantic Flyway in the continental United States. The data we gather here helps us understand a particularly understudied part of the migration pathway of songbirds as they transit between the continent and the Caribbean islands. 

For me, these birds are a physical manifestation of an experience many of us in South Florida can relate to - the experience of being "ni de aquí, ni de allá." When I placed the band on the yellow-billed cuckoo in the photo, I wondered if it, too, had traveled here from Puerto Rico or Cuba. If it sometimes experienced the strange sensation of homesickness even when in its other "home." Here in Miami, these birds offer a unique opportunity to bring communities closer to nature by bringing us closer to our culture. Not many other banding stations can say the same. 

Help us continue to tell these stories and inspire a love of birds here in South Florida while continuing to unravel their mysteries by donating today.