Avian long-distance migration requires refined programming to orchestrate the birds’ movements on annual temporal and continental spatial scales. Programming is particularly important as long-distance movements typically anticipate future environmental conditions. Hence, migration has long been of particular interest in chronobiology. Captivity studies using a proxy, the shift to nocturnality during migration seasons (i.e., migratory restlessness), have revealed circannual and circadian regulation, as well as an innate sense of direction. Thanks to rapid development of tracking technology, detailed information from free-flying birds, including annual-cycle data and actograms, now allows relating this mechanistic background to behaviour in the wild. Likewise, genomic approaches begin to unravel the many physiological pathways that contribute to migration. Despite these advances, it is still unclear how migration programmes are integrated with specific environmental conditions experienced during the journey. Such knowledge is imminently important as temporal environments undergo rapid anthropogenic modification. Migratory birds as a group are not dealing well with the changes, yet some species show remarkable adjustments at behavioural and genetic levels. Integrated research programmes and interdisciplinary collaborations are needed to understand the range of responses of migratory birds to environmental change, and more broadly, the functioning of timing programmes under natural conditions.

鸟类的长距离迁徙需要精细的规划，以协调鸟类在年度时间和大陆空间尺度上的运动。编程尤其重要，因为长途移动通常会预测未来的环境条件。因此，迁徙长期以来一直受到时间生物学的特别关注。使用迁徙季节期间向夜间活动（即迁徙不安）这一替代指标进行的圈养研究揭示了昼夜节律调节以及与生俱来的方向感。由于跟踪技术的快速发展，自由飞翔的鸟类的详细信息，包括年度周期数据和活动图，现在可以将这种机械背景与野外行为联系起来。同样，基因组方法开始揭示许多有助于迁移的生理途径。尽管取得了这些进展，但目前仍不清楚迁移计划如何与迁移过程中经历的特定环境条件相结合。随着时间环境经历快速的人为改变，这些知识变得迫在眉睫。候鸟作为一个群体并不能很好地应对这些变化，但一些物种在行为和遗传水平上表现出显着的调整。需要综合研究计划和跨学科合作来了解候鸟对环境变化的反应范围，更广泛地了解自然条件下计时计划的运作。