Flights of Feathers: Migratory Birds

Opening October 9, 2026, on view through January 17, 2027

Everyone knows that birds migrate in the fall—but does the average person think about the continued journey once the wavering V of geese drifts out of their field of vision? Do all birds migrate? How do they know where they’re going? Migrations are travel epics that countless birds engage in every year—how can something so relatively small travel so far?

More than half of the over six hundred breeding bird species in North America migrate. Sometimes they leave areas of decreasing resources for places with more resources—often, this is for nesting purposes. In the spring, many birds in the Northern hemisphere tend to fly north to enjoy food such as insects and plants, and to nest. In the fall, some birds escape the colder weather (and sudden decrease in food supply) and head to warmer climes. Sometimes this means travelling hundreds of miles. Other times, certain birds travel thousands upon thousands of miles to reach their destination.

The artworks included in this exhibition display various birds and how they handle migrations (or don’t migrate at all, and why). Original paintings, pencil sketches, and ink drawings by Roger Tory Peterson span from 1941 to 1980, depicted in his field guides, Wild America, World of Birds, Bird Watcher’s Anthology, and miscellaneous projects done early in his career. Also on display are his original photographs, which he used for both reference images and for publication in books and articles. These are held in conversation with current photos reproduced courtesy of the Macaulay Library at Cornell