During the past few decades, various populations of Canada geese have altered their migration patterns as a result of transplanting brood stock, development of refuges or changing agricultural practices. These routes will continue to change in the coming years as long as these factors are in a state of flux. It has been shown that man can establish breeding colonies of Canada geese with young birds almost anywhere. Europe also has several good examples of changes in migration routes through range extension. One of the best examples is the serin. During the past century, this European finch has spread its breeding range from around the Mediterranean Sea to include the entire continent. While the Mediterranean populations remain sedentary, the more northern breeding birds are migratory. Most likely, those birds that did not migrate from the North were eliminated by severe weather. Similarly, the wheatear, yellow wagtail, and Arctic warbler have extended their breeding ranges eastward across the Bering Sea into Alaska, but the wheatear, for instance, migrates all the way back across Asia to Africa where it winters with other wheatears coming from Europe, Iceland, and Greenland. As bird populations become more and more migratory, we might expect their flight capabilities to be enhanced accordingly. These changes in morphology are readily seen in wing shape. Several groups of birds have closely related species or populations some of which are migratory and others sedentary. The sedentary species or populations have more rounded wings because of the relative length of the wing quills. On the other hand, populations that migrate great distances, such as albatrosses, falcons, swifts, various shorebirds, and terns, have more pointed wings. Kipp(1942, 1958) demonstrated this using orioles. The sedentary black-headed oriole of India has a well-rounded wing whereas the closely related black-naped oriole is migratory between India and Siberia and has primaries that are much more pointed and well developed. Thus it seems the origin and evolution of migration have roots in the present that are deep in the past. The important thing to consider in the evolution of a migratory trait is whether a population can adapt to new conditions by genetic modification of its physiology and habits. The migratory habit has evolved in those populations in which, on the average, more individuals survive by moving to a different area part of the year than if they remained in the same area all year. =WHERE WE STAND=