What do Wisconsin’s smallest bird, the “cigar of the sky,” and the Monarch Butterfly have in common?

Epic flights, mindboggling biology of hummingbirds, Chimney Swifts and Monarch Butterflies spotlighted in free online series Aug. 18-20

CONTACTS: Brenna Marsicek, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance director of outreach, bmarsicek@swibirds.org, 608-255-2473;

Lisa Gaumnitz, SOS Save Our Songbirds coordinator, lisa.gaumnitz@sossaveoursongbirds.org, 608-235-2201;

Shelly Torkelson, Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin communications director, shelly.torkelson@wisconservation.org, 602-481-4109

MADISON – What do Wisconsin’s smallest bird, the “cigar of the sky,” and the Monarch Butterfly have in common?

These tiny animals – the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Chimney Swift and Monarch Butterfly, respectively – will soon leave Wisconsin on epic migrations to their winter homes, and they’re all featured in free online presentations Aug. 18-20.

These “Mighty Migrations” fly onto your screens on three consecutive nights at 7 p.m. CST as leading experts share the amazing biological feats of these winged marvels, their conservation needs, and how to take simple steps now to help them reach their destinations safely. This free series is brought to you by Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, SOS Save Our Songbirds and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, with additional partners for each individual presentation.

"As humans, we think it's pretty cool when we travel from Wisconsin to Wyoming for a summer vacation, but these animals are traveling thousands of miles on their own wing-power with body sizes a fraction of our own. It's incredible!" says Brenna Marsicek, director of outreach at Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance.

“These three online presentations share the awe of their flights and the tangible things we can all do to help them."

Each talk is free and online, and will be recorded. You will need to register for each one separately. See the information below for links and details.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Monday, Aug. 18

On Monday,Aug. 18, 7 p.m. CST on Zoom, learn about Ruby-throated Hummingbirds' ecology and how drinking Bird-Friendly certified coffee and adding window collision deterrents are two of the best ways to support this species. Jennifer Lazewski, former executive director of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, presents. Featured extensively in Wisconsin for her gardening for birds, she is a UW-Madison Division of Extension volunteer in the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programs and founder of the Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardener Pollinator Group.

Chimney Swifts, Tuesday, Aug. 18

On Tuesday, Aug. 19, 7 p.m. CST on Zoom, learn about Chimney Swifts and their amazing life on the wing! This bird — often called the “cigar of the sky”—has a spectacular fall migration behavior of forming "swift-nados" and dropping down into chimneys to roost at night. Dr. Steffanie Munguía, Avian Conservation Programs Manager for Zoo Miami and field director of the longest-running, southern-most migratory bird banding station in the continental United States, presents. The event also will cover how  protecting large chimneys as habitat is critical for this declining species that migrates to South America each fall, and you’ll learn about “Swift Night Out” events to catch in Wisconsin in August and September. 

And finally on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m. CST on Zoom, learn about our beloved Monarch Butterflies. Wisconsin is in the core breeding ground for the eastern migratory population of monarchs and our state's milkweed feeds and produces several generations before a final wave gorges itself on wildflower nectar and embarks on a 1,700-mile journey to central Mexico. Learn from Dr. Karen Oberhauser, an internationally renowned monarch researcher and former director of the UW-Madison Arboretum, how an insect weighing as much as a paperclip can travel so far, and why it’s in decline. Find out more about native nectar plants that support monarchs in fall migration, and how you can get involved with monarch tagging events in southern Wisconsin this September.