Flyway

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Five birds a day: drop a pin where each one is right now.

Every day: Five North American birds a day, the same for every player, from wide-ranging species to local ones. You pin where each bird is right now, so the answer follows the current month's range. New puzzle: Not stated; a new numbered edition each day by the player's local date.

Play Flyway on flyway.gg

Play Flyway

Flyway is a daily bird game played on a map of North America. Each day brings five birds, from widespread to local, and you drop a pin where you think each one is this month. A pin inside the bird's range scores 1,000, and the farther outside you click, the less you score.

About Flyway

Flyway asks one question five times a day: where is that bird? Each edition is numbered and dated, and every player gets the same five North American species, ordered from wide-ranging birds to ones with a small local range.

For each bird you place a pin on a map of the continent. Then its range for the current month is drawn over the map in shades of orange. A pin inside the range scores 1,000 points; a pin outside it scores less the farther away it lands. Because the ranges are seasonal, the right answer moves through the year: a bird that breeds in Canada in July may be on the Gulf coast by October. The game credits eBird sightings, shared through GBIF, as the source of its range data.

After the five rounds you get a total score, a row of coloured eggs that marks how close each pin was, and a result you can share or send to a friend as a challenge. Missed days can be played from the archive, and an Unlimited mode serves one bird at a time in any month you choose. Stats and a streak are kept in the browser, and signing in is optional.

It suits birders who know their field guide range maps, and anyone who wants to learn where common birds spend each season.

How to play Flyway

Open flyway.gg and press Play today's game to start the day's five birds.
Read the bird's name and think about where it lives during the current month.
Tap or click the map to drop your pin, move it if you want, then lock it in.
See the bird's range for this month drawn on the map and the points your pin scored.
Finish all five birds, then share your total or send a challenge to a friend.

Screenshots

Flyway's start screen for edition 13 on October 17, over a map showing the Yellow-rumped Warbler's January range

Tips

Think about the season: many songbirds leave Canada and the northern states by October, so pin winter birds further south.
A pin in the darkest part of a range is safest; the edges of a range are where pins tend to miss.
Use Unlimited to practise the same bird across different months and learn how its range shifts.