Conexión

CONEXIÓN

An urban mural exhibit about social and ecological migration and connections

Kilia Llano, Artist

Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program

Brought to you by USDA Forest Service, The Nature of Cities, and Partners

En Español

Conexión Wall Murals

Avenida Independencia, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Wynwood Walls, Miami, Florida
New York City, New York

Coming Soon

Migration and Migratory Species

What is migration?

Migration is defined as the movement of people or animals over some distance and from one “usual place of residence” to another. An example of people migration is residents from one country moving to another country to establish residence in the new location. Wildlife migration is when animals move on a regular cycle, traveling long distances in search of a new habitat. For example, birds from the Arctic fly south in winter and return in summer when it is warmer.

What is a migratory species?

Any species of wild animal, in which a significant proportion of the entire population, or any geographically separate part of the population, cyclically and predictably crosses one or more national jurisdictional boundaries. Migratory species are species that move from one habitat to another during different times of the year, as they cannot live in the same environment all year round due to seasonal limitations in factors such as food, sunlight, and temperature.

What is an example of a migratory bird?

The Cape May Warbler is a migratory species of bird that breeds in Canada, and then flies to the Caribbean and Central America during the winter months where it is warmer and food is available.

Why do migratory birds migrate?

Migratory birds fly hundreds and thousands of kilometres to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. When conditions at breeding sites become unfavourable, it is time to fly to regions where conditions are better. There are many different migration patterns.

Why are migratory species important?

Migratory animals are essential components of the ecosystems that support all life on earth. By acting as pollinators and seed distributors they contribute to ecosystem structure and function. They provide food for other animals and regulate the number of species in ecosystems.

Migratory species in the Dominican Republic

The Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) is a species of New World warbler. It breeds in northern North America. Its breeding habitat spans across all but the westernmost parts of southern Canada, and into the Great Lakes region and New England. It is migratory, wintering in the West Indies. The species is named after Cape May in New Jersey where Alexander Wilson collected the first type specimen. Source: Wikipedia.

Dragonflies

Resources

Refer to these links for more information about the Conexión project, urban art, migratory species, bird conservation and conservation in the Dominican Republic.

Information about Birds from the Dominican Republic

Information about Migratory Species

  • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
  • Incredible Journeys: Exploring the Wonders of Animal Navigation by David Barrie. 2020.
  • Supernavigators: Exploring the Wonders of How Animals Find Their Way by David Barrie. Published by The Experiment; Reprint edition (May 28, 2019).

Recommended Bird Guides for the Dominican Republic

  • Field Guide to the Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti by Steven Latta, Christopher Rimmer, and Kent McFarlan. 2022. ISBN: 9780691232393.
  • Ruta Barrancoli: A Bird-Finding Guide to the Dominican Republic by S C Latta and K J Wallace. 2012. Available from steven.latta@aviary.org or National Aviary, Allegheny Commons West, Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5248, USA.
  • Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti by S C Latta et al. Helm/Princeton University Press, 2006.
  • Collins Field Guide: Birds of the West Indies by N Arlott. Harper Collins, 2010.
  • Birds of the West Indies by H Raffaele et al. Helm, 1998.

Information about Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrine)

Information about Dragonflies

Bird Art

Environmental NGOs

International Bird Conservation Environmental NGOs

Bird Conservation Activities

Dominican Republic Conservation

About

The Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program

Is a residency created by the USDA Forest Service, NYC Parks, and The Nature of Cities. Selected artists engage with land managers and researchers to better understand, represent, and communicate about urban social-ecological systems through works of art and imagination. The program’s mission is to promote understanding of and engagement with urban ecology through art. The Urban Field Station Network understands cities as social-ecological systems, and this year’s call for artists focuses on the theme of connectivity.

Specifically, the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program seeks to build creative explorations of new knowledge by: (1) Facilitating creative and transdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists, and land managers in the creation of new artworks; and (2) Curating events and public engagements that explore ideas that emerge from creative works and collaborations resulting from the program. There are no limits to the types of artistic approaches.

Science and Art

We often think of art as a way to help illuminate human-nature interactions, ecologies, and scientific approaches to what we broadly describe as “nature-based solutions” … and it is. There are many urban ecological artists working to illuminate the science of urban nature (see, for example, Curating Cities). At times their work, alongside scientists, politicians, and planners, has direct ecological impact. Other times, artistic practice may be focused on the experience of our relationships with nature, which may form the basis of an expanded appreciation of science and nature among people who are not science “professionals”. Key to expanding our view of how art and science can interaction is exploring the edges of the words art, nature-based, and solutions, and exploring the active frontiers between them.

What is Conexión?

The Artist

Kilia Llano is a multimedia artist born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and currently working in Painting, Urban Art (murals), drawing, installations and digital art. Her work is based in identity, how we as a culture address nature and how our surrounding is related to who we are. She studied Fine Arts and Illustration at Altos De Chavón School of Design (1992) and also completed a bachelor degree in Fine Arts and Illustration at Parsons School of Design (1994), NY among others minor studies at Universidad De Barcelona (Art History) and Unibe University (Art Education) at Santo Domingo. Kilia has been painting in the street for almost 10 years in the Dominican Republic, United States, Colombia, Spain and Italy.

The Team

+ The US Forest Service Urban Forest Network

+ The Nature of Cities

+ The US Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry

Contact Us

The Nature of Cities

Email: david.maddox@thenatureofcities.com
Website: thenatureofcities.com
Twitter: @TNatureofCities | Instagram: @the_nature_of_cities

Kilia Llano

Email: kiliallano@gmail.com
Website: kiliallano.com
Instagram: @kiliallano

U.S. Forest Service Urban Field Network

Website: nrs.fs.fed.us/ufs
Twitter: @forestservice | Instagram: @u.s.forestservice