This double issue of Bird Conservation International is a milestone volume in Neotropical bird migration studies that will stand independently on the shelves of many research biologists. We were very pleased to be asked, toward the end of 1993, to become the publication forum for these symposium proceedings, although this has naturally necessitated the journal taking the unusual step of publishing combined issues. There are no current plans to produce symposium volumes of this size on a regular basis, but the journal will continue to publish selected papers from BirdLife (and other important international) symposia. The journal has indeed already carried several papers presented at specialist group meetings in South America (on cracids, parrots) and several further contributions based on these meetings are expected.