Bird migration changed our lives, for good.
Across Continents
Birds connect us all.
Birds hold cultural memory.
Some of them move thousands of miles every year.
We’re on a mission to explore the shared knowledge, traditions, and stories birds inspire across continents
What is
a flyway?
A flyway is a road in the sky: the route millions of birds follow between where they breed and where they spend the winter.
The East Atlantic Flyway runs from the Arctic and Northern Europe down the Atlantic coast to West and Southern Africa. Every wetland, estuary and forest edge along it is a place to rest and feed, and it links the people who live there without them ever meeting.
Birds show us the way, and we follow.
We need to find them to experience where they go, what they say, and the people they meet.
Can birds connect us all?
Across Continents
A multi-year, sound-led overlanding expedition following migratory birds between Europe and Africa to record how their voices are influenced by the places they inhabit along the way.
5 years on the flyway
23
countries
15,000+
miles driven along the flyway
450+
days living in the 4x4
2,000+
people who listened with us, on location
500+
species of birds
How we connected with people
We created many experiences on location, so people could understand why we were there and experience what we'll bring anywhere we go.
Catalonia
A teenager watched Barn Swallows cross continents in VR, then asked where they were now. We pointed above the kitchen sink.
Kotor, Sierra Leone
The children sang “Toyana” back to the Hadada Ibis, and kept singing after the music stopped.
Engage with people
Wings: we brought the stories to them.
Create with people
Sounds: we made the stories together.
Let people create
Music, and what comes next: the tools are theirs.
How we followed the flyway
Each month, one migration hotspot: we find the birds with local conservation partners, make stories together, and share them with locals first.
1 week
capital: permits, partners
2 weeks
in the field: listening, recording, making it together
1 week
sharing it back, handing it over
Four expeditions, London to Cape Town
Wings
Learning in Europe, entering Africa.
Wings Across Continents, 2022–2024
We started the project as two brothers, Axel and Ario: where are migratory birds going? How do they do it? We decided to follow the migration from south of Europe to the north, as birds do when they migrate back to Europe.
We found hundreds of migratory birds and learnt how they migrate from the field experts and NGOs we met through our partners, the Migratory Birds for People initiative and BirdLife International.
The birds took us to meet people. We engaged with over 1,000 people with headsets and loudspeakers: immersive documentaries made on the spot in every country.
Countries
Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, UK; then Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry, Sierra Leone
On the road
Axel and Ario, in two cars
We made
VR and spatial audio experiences, on the spot, in every country
Two brothers, two cars
Axel with the microphones, Ario with the camera: two brothers in two cars, following the birds along the flyway. His photographs show what we were listening to.
Ario's photographs
Sounds
Deeper into Africa, local stories leading the path.
Sounds Across Continents, 2024–2025
Axel proceeded on his own, taking the loudspeaker system and focusing on the stories about birds told by local communities. It's always teamwork, with Ed Dingli joining Axel in Liberia and Ghana helping with illustration and documentation.
We found migratory birds and resident ones alike. On coastal shores, in the Sahelian savannah or in tropical rainforests, birds never ceased to surprise us. Elusive birds, incredible wildlife and local beliefs all intertwined into an expedition like no other.
The birds this time brought us closer to remote villages, where we made narrative, radio-documentary style spatial audio documentaries with local farmers, hunters and ornithologists, closer to the first idea: birds as messengers between cultures on different continents.
Countries
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria
On the road
Axel, with Ed Dingli in Liberia and Ghana
We made
Radio-documentary style spatial audio stories
The birds
Whimbrel, Common Tern, Common Nightingale, African Golden Oriole, Common Reed Warbler, House Martin, Lesser Kestrel
Listen: the story we created and shared in Sierra Leone
Music
People and birds are the same soundscape.
Music Across Continents, 2025–2026
The focus is still the same; the way we told it evolved. Since Wings Across Continents, Axel found a way to create electronic music with the birds being the lead singers. He kept working on it during the other expeditions and this was the time to use it. Music connects us all, the medium where words are not needed, feelings are the drivers.
Some of the most challenging environments: the Congolese jungle and the Namib desert, they never stop surprising. Gorillas hanging out with Common Swifts, Sandwich Terns being hunted by Brown Hyenas in the middle of nowhere. This time, young people and creative communities were the focus.
In small and large cities we played live, making music with the living world: the local migratory birds as lead singers, alongside grooves and rhythms from the community itself.
The expedition stopped in Angola in February 2026, when Axel fell ill.
Countries
Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
On the road
Axel, with Paolo (Axel's dad) for Angola
We made
Music and live sets with the birds as lead singers
The birds
Eurasian Golden Oriole, European Roller, Eurasian Hobby, Green Sandpiper, Eurasian Curlew, Willow Warbler, Common Swift
Live at The Forest Creative Loft, Cameroon
What’s next?
Wonder, live in London
Thursday 19 November 2026, Polygon Portal, Soho. Drinks from 7pm, show at 8pm. A small room: book early.
Wonder Across Continents
The final expedition · 2027 · Angola · Namibia · Botswana · South Africa, to Cape Town
In February 2026 malaria and dengue stopped Axel in Angola, just before one of the great crossroads of migration. Down there, flyways meet: birds from other continents share the sky, alongside some of the most extraordinary cultures and wildlife on Earth.
We’re going back to finish the journey. Through Namibia’s Zambezi Region, the former Caprivi Strip, into Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and down the full length of South Africa to Cape Town.
Which birds will we find? What stories will they lead us to?
What we created
VR experiences, sound documentaries and music. The live show brings all three together.
VR experience
A 360° film from the route. Drag to look around and stand where we stood.
Ghana, in its own voices
Farmers, hunters and ornithologists share their stories of the birds. Close your eyes and listen in.
Ghana · 7 min · headphones on
Music
Live nature music set at The Forest Creative Loft, Cameroon: birds and beats.
We need to finish it to have the full picture.
Many souls, one flyway
Ario Drioli
Brother, co-founder of the journey, photographer and designer
BirdLife International
Partners along the whole flyway
Migratory Birds for People
The initiative that opened the doors, with WWT and Wetland Link International
Tim Dodman
Expert on the East Atlantic Flyway
Finlandya Custom
Early backer: 4x4 initial knowledge
Connor Welsh
Head of Migratory Birds for People
NOTHNG
Early backer: a London base
Global Birdfair
Early backer
It would not have been possible to create without all these dedicated and wonderful people involved.
The people we made it with
Our partners on the ground
SEO/BirdLife Spain
EVOA
Urdaibai Bird Center
Aiguamolls de l'Empordà
Pont de Gau
Schutzstation Wattenmeer
GREPOM/BirdLife Morocco
Nature Mauritanie
NCD Senegal
Panverus Project
Ghana Wildlife Society
Oiseaux et Horizons
Nigerian Conservation Foundation
Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society
INBAC
CIOMA
Our sponsors
We take brand partners into the field. You come back with original, sound-rich films and material that prove your purpose in action.
Main sponsor
Soundly released our West Africa recordings as a sound library, Wings Across Continents: West Africa, free in the Add-ons section inside Soundly.
.png){kind=small}
Films
Sounds Like Home: Wherever Birds Fly
Zoom Creator Stories: Axel Drioli
Wings Across Continents: Following Bird Migration with ZEISS Optics
A film by Soundly
A film by Zoom Europe
A film by ZEISS Nature
In the press
Finding the exotic on the doorstep
Interview · Jul 2023
Sounding Wild: A Migration Like No Other
Article · Nov 2024
Two Italian travellers and their project in Africa
Video · Feb 2024
TV report on the Drioli brothers and migratory birds
TV · May 2024
Photos and videos: Ario Drioli, Ed Dingli, Paolo Drioli, Axel Drioli
Narrative design: Axel Drioli and Carlie Fishgold