Accurately quantifying waterfowl migration patterns is pertinent to monitor ecosystem health and control bird-borne infectious diseases. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the environmental mechanisms that drive waterfowl migration and then investigate the effect of intra- and inter-annual change in food supply and temperature (e.g., climate change) on their migration patterns. Recent advances in remote sensing and animal tracking techniques make it possible to monitor these environmental factors over a wide range of scales and record bird movements in detail. The synergy of these techniques will facilitate substantial progress in our understanding of the environmental drivers of bird migration. We identify prospects for future studies to test existing hypotheses and develop models integrating up-to-date knowledge, high-resolution remote sensing data and high-accuracy bird tracking data. This will allow us to predict when waterfowl will be where, in response to short- and long-term global environmental change. © 2015 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg